The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-08-03
FINE CROPS
OF TOBACCO IN
BALDWIN co.
THE WEED Is NOW RIPENlNe AND
THE GROWERS ARE coNsE-
oUENTLY IN NEED OF MUCH
HELP, WHICH Is HARD TO OBJ
TAIN,
Special to The Journal.

Bay Minette, Aug. Tobacco grow
ers in this county are experiencing at
present the hardest part of the entire
year. The time of the ripening of the
weed is now on and the rush for en-
ployes, both men and women, is gem
eral and extends even into Florida
A recent visit of your correspondent
to the tobacco district proved most in
teresting. Perhaps the most of the to-
bacco plantations, growing the famous
shade tobacco, are located at or near
Robertsdale, on the Fl. Morgan branch
of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad,
and 1t was in this territory that the
visit was made.
Immediately south of the city limits
is the farm of the Southern Leaf To-
bacco Co, which grows the Sumatra
lefa. Their field is entirely shaded
and the tobacco extended in certain
places. through the shade. which is
town is the large plantation of w. S.
Harvey g. Co Further to the east are
the farms of Peck, Firth & Co., A. j.
league, MacKay Brothers, L. F. Vor-
his, B. F. Pittman, G. Henkes and
Shafer Bros. The largest and most
extensive of these farms is that of
the Galesburg Development Company,
| miles east of Robertsdale.
This company is growing this year
sixteen acres of the large leaf Cuban
| tobacco and their shaded field is the
most beautiful of them all. Last year
this company expended in the neigh
berhood of $4,000 In getting their land
in readiness for the tobacco and put
ting UP their buildings and shade.
! Their tobacco Is, without doubt the
| finest in that locality and three mann
moth barns are being compieted for
| the drying of the weed. TEE build
| ings which are used for the help and
| the manager, the barns ard other
buildings connected with the plant
! form a little village, ell of which are
| to be painted white. after which 1t will
| he termed the white city" The COM
| pany is composed of DanViile, Ill, cap
italIsts. and their farm is being su-
perintended by II, o. Packard, who is
an expert at growing the Cuban leaf
| tobacco.
The handling of the tobacco at the
! farms Is the most interesting process.
! One force OF men is kept in the field
| printing the leaves, which consists OF
plucking them from the stalk and
piling them properly for the sewers in
the barns. The leaves are transferred
to the barns on long carriers where
| they are placed before the women en-
ployes to be sewed into heavy strings,
which are attached to laths. About
| three dozen leaves are sewed to each
lath after which the iaths are handed
from the bottom of the barn to the
very top and placed between parallel
| sCantlings which are constructed all
over the barn. Here the leaves are
slowly dried until they are ready for
the curing plane. They are then taken
down, packed solidly and removed to
the large curing plant at Summerdale,
where they are put through another
process, rebaled and shipped to mar
ket.
Immense profits are realized from
the tobacco and many northern people
are entering into the business. To
Baldwin county, the value of the land
as tobacco growing, can hardly be es-
timated as the tobacco land reached
throughout the county and II is be-
lieved to be only a short time hence
when the tobacco industry will have,
to a certain extent, supplanted the
general farming.