River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-10-28

greater tobacco state IMAM FLO
rida, from whence the first tobac-
n co plants were taken to Europe
and that long has been associat-
ed with the plant to which the world
pays such great tribute.
And it seems that Indiana is des-
tined to become a greater commercial
tobacco producer than even it Is at
present.
To-day the last of almost a $4,000
900 tobacco crop is being stored in the
Indiana drying barns, and it will soon
be packed into hogsheads, many of
which will go = Europe-and especial
ly to England. Indiana, long famed as
a place where all men chewed fine-cut,
is great chewing tobacco producing
state. 1t produces both flne-cut and
plug, and considerable pipe-smoking
tobacco. Some of our tobacco comes
cites; in fact, Indiana produces much
more tobacco than Egypt
We have our interesting traditions
and history about almost everything
else grown in this state, and perhaps
some Hoosier sage, not unearthed or
Who has failed to transcribe his in
formation, may know something about
the history of tobacco in Indiana. But
no record of first paintings seems to
have been left behind. OF course, the
history OF tobacco is most picturesque,
and we have often had the story of
the servants back in merry England
dousing Sir Walter Raleigh with wa
ter when they saw smoke coming from
his mouth.
The state dates its commercial pro-
duction to the early post-bellum days,
when many Kentucky farmers came
into Indiana and settled in the Ohio
river county hills. Almost all of them
had been reared with the smell Of to-
bacco In their nostrils and they shifted
for tobacco ground. And they found
It: found 1t for extensive culture in
two sections. Within a few years they
had raised Spencer county, Ind, to the
rank of the third tobacco producing
county in the United States, and at
one time the county produced 13,000,-
600 pounds of tobacco. Rockport be-
came a tobacco market of magnitude,
though overshadowed by the long es-
tablished greensboro, less than ten
miles down stream.
The new district broadened out and
Warrick county became tobacco pro
Queer and so did parts of Perry
county.
But the lands were cleared at last
and as a first crop 1t was no longer
needed, and at the same time labor
gradually began to become dearer and
the price for tobacco began to fall. AS
a result, there was a period when to-
bacco culture In that field threatened
to disappear. But then came, few
years ago, the increasing market quo
tations for tobacco and since then the
acreage has increased and farmers,
finding the crop profitable enough
have even been able to increase the
production per acre.
The crop that has just been put into
the sheds in this one Indiana tobacco
district will this year not fall very far
short of 100000 pounds, though In
1896 the production of the field had
fallen to only 100000 pounds. The
tobacco is dark leaf" similar to that
grown in the Green river district IN
Kentucky, and it goes on the market
as Green river kentucky tobacco to-
gether with the production Of Daviess,
Ohio McClain, Hancock and famous
Breckenridge counties. This Ken
tucky-Indiana district tobacco is ia
nous especially among the English
men as smoking tobacco and also as
q chewing tobacco and great deal of
it goes direct to Britain and the CONT
nent
While this development was going
on in southwestern Indiana, one al
most parallel in all respects centered
in and around Switzerland county on
the upper Ohio. But the tobacco raised
there is hurley. rather than dark or
prior tobacco, and even the Kentuck-
ians admit that the Hoosiers raise
some" tobacco as good as their IA
nous hurley. This southeastern In
diana tobacco is largely used in max