Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-09-23
OUR BIG TOBACCO INDUSTRY :;


up for market in OK badders in balls ranging
in size from that of your fist to your head and
it is sold by the ounce or the pound 1t is used
largely in the mountain districts of the south
after the custom known as snuff dipping" In
this the snuff is not sucked up the nose. 1t is
taken into the mouth, being applied with a
chewed stick which is dipped into the mixture
and then rubbed over the teeth and gums. 1t
is common throughout the southern Appala-
chan mountains.
The custom of Using snuff for the nose is
fast dying out, although it was more or less
prevalent among all classes in colonial times
Dolly Madison, the wife of the president, was
an artistic snuff-rser. She had two handker-
chiefs for the purpose. One of these, she said,
was for blowing, and the other, delicate lace
affair. she used as a polisher Not long ago
many of Our United States senators used snuff,
and in my own time as a correspondent at
the capitol at Washington large snuff box was
kept in the Senate chamber, the powdered to-
bacco in which was supplied to such senator's
as were addicted to the habit, at the expense
Of the government
The south is now making three-fourths of
the tobacco of the United States. The weed
can be grown almost anywhere from Canada
to the equator but there are certain localities
and soils which produce far better tobacco than
others. In Connecticut the conditions are espe-
cially good for making cigar wrappers, and
they raise some of the finer tobaccos under
tents at a cost of hundreds of dollars per acre.
Some of the Kentucky tobaccos are SO fine that
the plants are bagged in order to keep the seed
pure, and each region has its own specially.
The finest Havanas are grown in little district
in western Cuba where the soil is worth al
most its weight in gold. Not long ago when
railroad was put through that country the peo
pie scooped off the top earth and brought in
poorer material to build up the right of way
for the tracks. They used the top soil for their
tobacco fields, treating it somewhat as a fer
tilizer.
AS to the southern states, which make the
bulk of our tobacco crop, have before me the
figures for the crop of 1915 At that time Ken
lucky produced in round numbers about $780,
100000 pounds of tobacco, and North Carolina
almost 2OO,000O0O. Virginia made IA, OO0,-
900, Tennessee about 100000 and South
Carolina almost 39,0O0,000 pounds The total
was more than SOO,O0O,0OO pounds for these
five states and the plantations covered over a
million acres The value of the crop to the
farmers was more than S7O,OOO,OOO, or an
average Of about $40 per acre.
1t will surprise many to know that con-
siderable amount of tobacco is raised in our
northern states. The crop of Massachusetts
is worth more than a million dollars year, and
that of Connecticut brings in five million dol
lars and upward In 1915 PENNSYLVANIA had
thirty-one thousand acres in tobacco, and it
netted her almost four million dollars. Ohio
had about ninety-four thousand acres, with
product of more than eighty-four million
pounds, whereas Wisconsin, which we look
upon as one of the cold states of the Union
had forty-one thousand acres in tobacco and
she received therefrom more than two million
dollars. Nearly all of the southern states pro-
duce more or less tobacco, and some make
special kinds that are found nowhere else
There is little district in Louisiana, not far
from New Orleans, which grows tobacco
which is as black as your hat and as strong
as fresh I've. This is known as perique to-
bacco 1t is cured in its own Juice and is said
to be one of the finest tobaccos made. 1t is
sold in rolls wrapped around with cords, and is
said to grow sweeter as it becomes older. 1t is
too strong for those not accustomed to use it.
The tobacco Of North Carolina and Virginia
makes good cigarettes, and billions of the little
white papered health-destroyers come from the
soil near where am writing. This tobacco is
mild, light and yellow, and it has fine flavor.
went through cigarette factory here, which
is one of the largest of the United States, the
product of which amounts to some billions
year. The manager tells me that the demand