November, 1895.
FLORIDA
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT
STATION.
The Culture of Tobacco
F. B. MOODIE.
The Bulletins of this Station will be sent free to any address in
Florida upon application to the Director of the Experiment
Station, Lake City, Fla.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
VANCE PRINTING COMPANY.
1895.
]Bulletirx No. 30.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
HON. WALTER GWYNN, President . .. Sanford
HON. W. D. CHIPLEY, Vice-President ... .Pensacola
HON. F. E. HARRIS, Ch'n Executive Committee Ocala
HON. A. B. HAGAN, Secretary . .. .Lake City
HON, S. STRINGER . . .. .Brooksville
HON. C. F. A. BIELBY . . .. .DeLand
HON. J. F. BAYA .. ..... Lake City
STATION STAFF.
O. CLUTE, M. S., LL. D . . .. Director
P. H. ROLFS, M. S ..... Horticulturist and Biologist
A. A. PERSONS, M. S . . .. .Chemist
C. A. FINLEY. . . Director's Secretary
A. L. QUAINTANCE, M. S ... Assistant in Biology
H. K. MILLER, M. 8 . Assistant in Chemistry
JOHN F. MITCHELL .... .Foreman of Lake City Farm
J. T. STUBBS . Supt. Sub-Station, DeFuniak Springs
W. A. MARSH . .. .Supt. Sub-Station, Fort Myers
F. B. MOODIE, Special Experimenter with Tobacco, Lake City
THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Introduction .......................................... 117-118
Seeding ............................................ 119-123
Soil .................. ...................................... 123-124
Setting ...................... ...... ............ 127
Fertilizing......................... ............. 125-127
Cultivating .......................................... 128
Worming .............................................. 128-129
Topping ........... ................................... 129
Suckering ............................................ 130
Harvesting ............................................... 130-131
Housing ........................... .... ........... 131-132
Stripping............................................... 132-133
Grading.................................................. 133-134
Boxing ....................... .......................... 134
THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO.
INTRODUCTION.
This important industry in Florida has been greatly
embarrassed for several years past by a combination of
unfortunate circumstances, the most serious of which have
been overcome; the only one remaining being a lack of
desirable information'as to the proper cultivation, fertili-
zation and manipulation of the plant. This the Experi-
mental Station hopes[tby this, and other bulletins, to
impart.
The agitation "of the tariff on imported cigar leaf
necessarily unsettled values, but the last congress fixed the
duty in the growers' favor at $1.50 per pound on wrap-
per, and 35c. on filler.
The last, but not the least, difficulty has been the
paucity of the crop, making it so easy for dealers to dic-
tate and control prices,while they would skillfully manip-
ulate and disguise our product, and put it on the mar-
ket either as GenuineVHavana," or "Havana F." This
difficulty will now, no doubt, be removed by the revolu-
tion in Cuba creating a demand for the Florida pro-
duct many times greater than the possible sup-
ply. Devastating armies, reinforced by cyclones and
floods, have destroyed the tobacco plantations of the
Vuelta Abajo and other districts in Cuba, and the proba-
bility is that the home demand will exceed the '96 crop,
and possibly that of several succeeding years.
Thus it appears that Cuba's extremity will be Flor-
ida's opportunity, for no other State in the Union has the
soil and climatic conditions necessary to provide a sub-
stitute for Havana tobacco. Indeed, Florida is now
looked to and called upon by hundreds of large factories
in this country to supply this much-needed commodity,
and it is possible that there may be an export demand,
as other foreign countries can no more get IHavana leaf
than this country can.
As soon as the financial condition of the Experi-
ment Station will permit I shall conduct some careful
experiments in the cultivation and manipulation of sev-
eral of the most popular types of cigar filler and wrapper
tobaccos, and also of the most popular types of bright
plug wrapper-the cash demand for which is always
greater than the supply of the fine quality to which our
soil and climate are preeminently adapted. The experi-
ments will be in charge of an experienced tobacco
grower. The frequent letters asking for information as
to tobacco culture indicate a present wide demand for
the latest knowledge on this subject. To meet this
demand by the preparation of a bulletin I secured the ser-
vices of Prof. F. B. Moodie, who has had over twenty
years experience in Virginia,North Carolina and Kentucky
plug tobaccos, and has devoted the last ten years steadily to
experimentation in growing and manipulating the best
types of cigar leaf in Florida, and whose writings on this
subject are now very widely quoted and regarded as
authority; so that the public will feel confident that his
instructions and directions will be a safe guide for begin-
ners, and even profitable to those with some knowledge
and experience, particularly those whose experience has
been limited to other States, which would most likely
mislead them iii Florida, which has soil and climate
peculiar to itself. 0. CLUTE,
Lake City, Fla., Nov. 25, 1895. Director.
THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO.
I shall direct attention first, to the culture and treat-
ment of cigar leaf, and then to the culture and treatment
of the bright plug leaf, that being the only type of plug
tobacco that it is advisable to plant in Florida.
SELECTION OF SEED.
I have experimented with over twenty varieties of
cigar leaf but have rejected all but three or four, they
proving the most profitable. If the object is to supply a
substitute for Havana wrapper and filler, the consensus
of opinion is in favor of the Vuelta Abajo.
If the object is to grow a crop of wrapper tobacco, the
poorer leaves of which make only an inferior grade of
"binder" or "filler," genuine Sumatra seed is to be recom-
mended, provided the soil is fresh, gray, sandy-loam
hammock, or even "black Jack ridges" if properly enriched.
But.I am not as yet convinced that old lands, which have
lost their original virgin properties, are to be recommend-
ed for this variety of wrapper tobacco, for in the Island of
Sumatra, only the virgin soil is planted. There is no doubt
that there are some Florida lands that will produce by
skillful management, a wrapper from the genuine Suma-
tra seed, that will rival, and in point of quality, even surpass
the Sumatra leaf, for the imported article is devoid of
aroma, and is only a bitter but beautiful cover for a cigar.
After ten years searching, I have at last just found
the old celebrated ante bellum, Florida Speckled Wrapper,
that was so eagerly sought for by the Amsterdam and
Hamburg leaf dealers. After the late war between the
States broke out, and the ports were blockaded, they
sought for another Florida soil and climate, and in the
Islands of Borneo and Sumatra and in the Kamaroon ex-
periments were made to obtain a substitute for the old Flor-
ida speckled leaf, and now Sumatra wrappers are the most
popular and expensive in the world, and will be till this
old Florida favorite is brought again into notice, and
Rip Van Winkle-like, is re-introduced to home and foreign
markets. But it must be borne in mind that in the har-
vesting of either one of these types it is better to "prime"
off the leaves into large, flat baskets, and string them on
wire, cord or slender sticks. I prefer common baling
wire cut into pieces about fifteen inches long, on which
the leaves are strung face to face or back to back; (not
spooned, as that would blacken them). Sit down by a
basket of leaves, take the wire on the knee, forcing the
end through the large end of the stem, first on one and
then the other side, and when full hang astride the lath
and put up on poles to dry.
The so-called Ma Nicaragua, or Moodie's Hybrid,
which won both Medals at the Centennial in Cincinnati
in '88, and twice at the other fairs, and was pronounced
by a committee of New England Experts, as the "finest
wrapper ever grown in the world," succeeds only in cer-
tain light Hammock lands, when planted very early. It
makes on old land a good filler. I lost my stock of seed
when my residence burned in spring of'94, but hope to re-
stock from an ounce restored by a friend.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH PERFECT FROM IMPERFECT SEED.
Put a few seed on a clean, hot tin or stove, when if
the seed are dead they will quietly burn black; otherwise
they will remonstrate, by an apparent endeavor to jump
off. If, however, only a few complain of the intense heat,
double the quantity to be sown on the bed. But bet-
ter get fresh seed.
TIME TO SOW SEED.
In the northern counties of Florida sow the first beds
from the 1st to the 10th of January; then sow one or
more beds every week or two till the last of February, to
insure a sufficiency for a large crop. It is not safe to rely
on one seed-bed. Further South seed may be sown earlier,
the object being to transplant just as soon as danger of
late spring frosts is past, for tobacco, like tomatoes or
other vegetables, should be in the field as soon as safe
from frost.
LOCATION AND PREPARATION OF SEED-BEDS.
Select a rich, moist place, near as possible to water,
and if sloping to the south the better; not one much shaded
-must have sunlight. On the nature of the seed-bed soil
depends the nature and worth of the plant. It must be
borne in mind that foliage and not fruit is the objective
crop. If seed are sown on very light sandy loam, dry
and thirsty, the roots will descend deep into the ground
for moisture, and there will be no surface lateral rootlets,
but only a long "tap-rcot with a veiy few branches.
On such a plant the leaves will be short and very far
apart like a mullein stalk. Whereas, the seed sown on
moist and closely compacted land will produce stocky seed-
lings with abundant surface rootlets, which will develop
an umbrageous, spreading plant, with abundant and
more valuable foliage. I must admit that I have learned
this important fact after forty years' observation.
Virgin soil is better for the seed-bed than old land,
unless the old land has been well mulched the previous
summer, thereby destroying much of the seed lof grass
and weeds, which is the chief object of burning the
ground. Thorough mulching also restores measurably
the virgin properties to old soil.
TIME TO SOW SEED.
In the northern counties of Florida sow the first beds
from the 1st to the 10th of January; then sow one or
more beds every week or two till the last of February, to
insure a sufficiency for a large crop. It is not safe to rely
on one seed-bed. Further South seed may be sown earlier,
the object being to transplant just as soon as danger of
late spring frosts is past, for tobacco, like tomatoes or
other vegetables, should be in the field as soon as safe
from frost.
LOCATION AND PREPARATION OF SEED-BEDS.
Select a rich, moist place, near as possible to water,
and if sloping to the south the better; not one much shaded
-must have sunlight. On the nature of the seed-bed soil
depends the nature and worth of the plant. It must be
borne in mind that foliage and not fruit is the objective
crop. If seed are sown on very light sandy loam, dry
and thirsty, the roots will descend deep into the ground
for moisture, and there will be no surface lateral rootlets,
but only a long "tap-rcot with a veiy few branches.
On such a plant the leaves will be short and very far
apart like a mullein stalk. Whereas, the seed sown on
moist and closely compacted land will produce stocky seed-
lings with abundant surface rootlets, which will develop
an umbrageous, spreading plant, with abundant and
more valuable foliage. I must admit that I have learned
this important fact after forty years' observation.
Virgin soil is better for the seed-bed than old land,
unless the old land has been well mulched the previous
summer, thereby destroying much of the seed lof grass
and weeds, which is the chief object of burning the
ground. Thorough mulching also restores measurably
the virgin properties to old soil.
It is important to burn the seed-bed well, in the follow-
ing manner: Rake off leaves and trash, lay green poles
four to six feet apart, pile on brush uniformly for kind-
ling if you have it convenient. Then throw on heavy
sticks of wood at right angles, with old rails or dry wood
between, across the poles or skids, which serve to elevate
the burning wood, admitting of oxygen to support free
combustion immediately over and near the surface. After
the smaller wood has been burned, with a long-handled
hoe or hook, draw the remaining large pieces to the mar-
gin, and so extend the area of the bed. When it has
cooled, dig up closely, leaving the ashes on the ground,
being careful not to turn the burnt surface upside down.
Do not plow. Then, with prong hoe and rake, remove
all roots and small stumps and level the surface nicely,
raising it about six inches on the margin by a small
ditch to carry off surplus rain.
QUANTITY OF SEED AND HOW TO SOW.
One heaped tablespoonful of good fresh seed to fifty
square yards, mixed thoroughly into a half gallon of
corn meal or white ashes, so as to see when the ground
is well seeded. Better to mark off spaces with a stick
about four feet wide. Sow with thumb and two fingers,
when no wind is blowing, and leave a little to sow across
the other way to insure uniform stand. [Don't rake
the seed in as some will be too deep, but rather use a
long, stiff switch and sweep lightly, and then with a pair
of quickly extemporized snow-shoes (made by nailing a
strap for the foot on a piece of board 10 by 12 inches),
tramp the bed over evenly. Leave the margin slightly
raised to run off surplus water.
For protection from frosts, cold winds, flea beatles,
etc., it is safer to cover with thin, cheap cotton cloth.
This also secures greater uniformity of moisture and tem-
perature. While a covering of straight, leafless brush
may suffice, the canvas is far better, for it will
insure earlier plants. But the canvas must be removed
at least ten days or more before the time of transplant-
ing, otherwise the plants would be too tender. Always
aim to have twice as many plants as you need.
THE KIND OF LAND BEST ADAPTED TO CIGAR LEAF.
There is no longer any question that new, gray ham-
mock of sandy-loam is the best; and if bright wrapper is
wanted, even this should have a yellow or light-colored
subsoil, either clay or sand, the latter being preferable for
growing leaf of the finest texture. But any good sandy-
loam in Florida, if not too wet, may produce good cigar
tobacco, if not impregnated with lime or clay in the
surface.
As in the Mineral kingdom, the most precious metal,
S gold, is never found disassociated from silica, (sand), so
in the Vegetable kingdom, the finest qualities of texture
aroma, flavor etc., are only to be produced from silicious
(sandy) soils, unmixed with the baser calcareous, ferrugin-
ous, and argilaceous elements, i. e., lime, iron and clay.
However, if a sub-stratum of clay occur one foot or more
below the surface, it is no disadvantage, but may be a
mechanical benefit, as a base to support moisture, for the
"tap roots" of plants and trees serve only as an aque-
duct to supply water, while the surface lateral rootlets
reach out for sustenance; hence all fertilizers should be
lightly covered from the sunlight.
It is also a fact that the finest cigar leaf in the world
is grown only on tropical and semi-tropical Islands and Pen-
insulas-(e. g., Cuba, Sumatra, Florida, etc.)-where much
of the make up of the soil is marine drift and the climate
is warm and humid, for it is known to experts in cigar
leaf that it requires a humid atmosphere from the seed to
the cigar, and the reverse is deleterious, and if continuous,
is ruinous.
NATURAL INDICATIONS OF CIGAR LEAF LANDS.
The true relation existing between Geology and
Botany is less understood than any rudimentary prin-
ciple of Agriculture and Horticulture. It underlies every
other, and if violated, "mother earth" refuses to yield her
increase and spurns every pseudo-scientific experiment.
Figs will not grow on thorns nor grapes on thistles. We
must turn back to nature's elementary spelling book-nor
expect to "go on to perfection" until we learn the first
principles, i. e.: why this, or that, or the other tree or
shrub, or plant or grass, grows spontaneously or indige-
nously out of certain soils as a true habitat, coming up
at nature's bidding and growing to perfection, overcom-
ing every other tree, or plant, or grass that man, without
proper thought, undertakes to intrude. Thus it must be
made plain that in order to obtain the highest results we
must not disregard nor disobey the dictates of nature.
Fine cigar leaf only is desirable. While a fine or fancy
leaf will always command a fancy price, an inferior grade
may be worthless. Without proper soil, climatic condi-
tions and environment the best results need not be
expected. There are fortunately a few easily recognized
natural indications that will not mislead. Where there
are flowing springs of pure soft water, lime, of course, is
not present, or the water would be "hard." Again, the
indigenous growth of the virgin forest-the chinquepin,
chestnut, hickory, beech, dogwood and oak indicate the
best cigar tobacco lands, as well as the best bright plug
wrapper.
PREPARATION OF THE LAND.
It should go without saying that new ground should
be broken both ways with the "jumping coulter," with
the cigar, and the reverse is deleterious, and if continuous,
is ruinous.
NATURAL INDICATIONS OF CIGAR LEAF LANDS.
The true relation existing between Geology and
Botany is less understood than any rudimentary prin-
ciple of Agriculture and Horticulture. It underlies every
other, and if violated, "mother earth" refuses to yield her
increase and spurns every pseudo-scientific experiment.
Figs will not grow on thorns nor grapes on thistles. We
must turn back to nature's elementary spelling book-nor
expect to "go on to perfection" until we learn the first
principles, i. e.: why this, or that, or the other tree or
shrub, or plant or grass, grows spontaneously or indige-
nously out of certain soils as a true habitat, coming up
at nature's bidding and growing to perfection, overcom-
ing every other tree, or plant, or grass that man, without
proper thought, undertakes to intrude. Thus it must be
made plain that in order to obtain the highest results we
must not disregard nor disobey the dictates of nature.
Fine cigar leaf only is desirable. While a fine or fancy
leaf will always command a fancy price, an inferior grade
may be worthless. Without proper soil, climatic condi-
tions and environment the best results need not be
expected. There are fortunately a few easily recognized
natural indications that will not mislead. Where there
are flowing springs of pure soft water, lime, of course, is
not present, or the water would be "hard." Again, the
indigenous growth of the virgin forest-the chinquepin,
chestnut, hickory, beech, dogwood and oak indicate the
best cigar tobacco lands, as well as the best bright plug
wrapper.
PREPARATION OF THE LAND.
It should go without saying that new ground should
be broken both ways with the "jumping coulter," with
a blade in front to cut all roots possible, and that the
roots should be raked and burned on the land. That
virgin soil produces the very highest results in quality
cannot be gainsaid. But if old lands are to be used they
should be thoroughly mulched the summer before with a
heavy crop of pea vines, which not only clothe the soil
as with a garment to protect it from the sun, but absorb
the nitrogen from the air, imparting it and other virgin
properties to the soil. Lands thus treated should not be
plowed until February, then with a two-horse plow, with
a rolling colter, turn under the vines. It is better to
run a cutaway or disc harrow over, to cut up the vines
or other trash before plowing under. Let the land
remain rough till a few days before the plants are ready
to set; then dress with the cutaway or disc harrow, and
lay off rows 3 feet apart, and make a slight ridge if the
plants are to be set by hand, and knock off same with a
board-plow or hoe, and set plants 12 to 20 inches apart,
according to variety of leaf and strength of soil. If a
transplanting machine is to be used, which I always use
when stumps are out of the way, the land should be
rolled or dressed with a harrow, float or brush. The
machine marks off the rows. There are some good
machines for transplanting, notably the Bemis, made at
Dayton, Ohio. Also some cheaper ones claiming merit.
WHAT FERTILIZERS MAY BE SAFELY USED.
Commercial fertilizers, as a rule, must be avoided in
cigar leaf tobacco, for unlike plug tobaccos, this must have
at least four essential qualities, to-wit: flavor, texture,
uniform color (without white veins or calico spots), and
last, but not least, burning quality. It may have all of
the former in the highest degree, and without this burn-
ing quality, be utterly worthless for cigar purposes. A
cigar requiring two men, one to smoke and the other to
hold the torch, would not be in demand. Commercial
fertilizers contain either saline or lime properties, pre-
venting a free burn, or still other deleterious properties
affecting the aroma or uniform color. That fertilizers
should be used with great caution may be demonstrated
by the use of German kainit, which prevents burning
altogether; or hog-pen, "night soil," or goat manures, giv-
ing the "aroma" (?) of a pole-cat to the cigar. So it ap-
pears, from the foregoing, that all efforts to enrich the
soil should be made with the sole view of restoring the
original properties of the virgin soil, which, of course,
were mainly from vegetable sources. This is helped by
shading and mulching which acts mechanically to gene-
rate humus, absorb and husband nitrogen, etc., as well as
to prevent the sun from evaporating these from the soil.
Therefore, composts of stable, cow-pen, or barn-yard ma-
nure, with muck or cotton seed, whole or crushed, are
good for cigar leaf in addition to the treatment of the
old land as in the foregoing. I will give notice, how-
ever, that after many years of experimentation, I have
formulated a fertilizer mainly from vegetable sources,
that contains the requisite amount of potash, phosphoric
acid and ammonia, and only costs $35 per ton f. o. b., and
is guaranteed to promote combustion, and other desired
qualities of leaf. This cigar leaf special is known as
"Intense Alluvium." This is the very thing also for fine,
silky plug wrappers, if one or two hundred pounds of
German kainit per acre is applied to the land two or
three weeks before planting time.
HOW TO APPLY FERTILIZERS.
Whether broadcast or in drills, is the question often
asked. Unless the manure is well rotted and pulverized,
broadcast is the better way. If strewn in the row, distri-
bute with a bull-tongue plow or a pitchfork, so as to pre-
vent "caking" or drying up the plant, of which there is
no danger if scattered broadcast. When crushed cotton
seed or cotton seed meal is used, first prepare the land
well, lay off the rows, (31 feet), then scatter broadcast and
throw two furrows on the row, then what remains outside
will be worked up in contact with the roots.
HOW MUCH FERTILIZER PER ACRE?
An acre of tobacco land should contain at least 100
pounds of potash ; 200 is better. If cotton seed meal
alone is used, put' on from 1,500 pounds to three tons per
acre, according to the strength of the land. Stable and
barnyard manure, or compost may be used ad libitum;
nothing better than cow-penning. Of Intense Allu-
vium 200 to 1,000 pounds, or a ton on very poor land.
In New England two to three tons per acre are used.
TRANSPLANTING.
When plants are three to six inches high, they are
ready to be put out, in the same manner as cabbage, fif-
teen to eighteen inches apart in the rows, which are 31
feet apart, but not more. If a "peg" is used, let it be
short and .blunt, and don't make a hole deeper than the
plant is to be put in, and .preps the dirt closely against
the roots and not the stem. The plant should be put in
nearly up to the oud, however long it may be, for it can-
not do well on "stilts." In order to make fine texture the
land must be rich, and the plants crowded fifteen to eigh-
teen inches, and, if new seed from Cuba, even ten to
twelve inches apart in the row, so that there will be 10,-
000 to 12,000 plants set out to an acre. Plug tobacco
should be set 2j to 3 feet apart, in 3j feet rows, and land
should be very rich. It is impossible to make tobacco of
fine silky texture without crowding the plants. Follow
in three days with a basket of strong plants and a bucket
vent "caking" or drying up the plant, of which there is
no danger if scattered broadcast. When crushed cotton
seed or cotton seed meal is used, first prepare the land
well, lay off the rows, (31 feet), then scatter broadcast and
throw two furrows on the row, then what remains outside
will be worked up in contact with the roots.
HOW MUCH FERTILIZER PER ACRE?
An acre of tobacco land should contain at least 100
pounds of potash ; 200 is better. If cotton seed meal
alone is used, put' on from 1,500 pounds to three tons per
acre, according to the strength of the land. Stable and
barnyard manure, or compost may be used ad libitum;
nothing better than cow-penning. Of Intense Allu-
vium 200 to 1,000 pounds, or a ton on very poor land.
In New England two to three tons per acre are used.
TRANSPLANTING.
When plants are three to six inches high, they are
ready to be put out, in the same manner as cabbage, fif-
teen to eighteen inches apart in the rows, which are 31
feet apart, but not more. If a "peg" is used, let it be
short and .blunt, and don't make a hole deeper than the
plant is to be put in, and .preps the dirt closely against
the roots and not the stem. The plant should be put in
nearly up to the oud, however long it may be, for it can-
not do well on "stilts." In order to make fine texture the
land must be rich, and the plants crowded fifteen to eigh-
teen inches, and, if new seed from Cuba, even ten to
twelve inches apart in the row, so that there will be 10,-
000 to 12,000 plants set out to an acre. Plug tobacco
should be set 2j to 3 feet apart, in 3j feet rows, and land
should be very rich. It is impossible to make tobacco of
fine silky texture without crowding the plants. Follow
in three days with a basket of strong plants and a bucket
of water, if need be, in order to secure a perfect stand at
once, for whenever there are missing places the plants on
the border thereof are apt to be thick and "leathery."
CULTIVATION OF THE PLANT.
About ten days after transplanting, go over with the
hoe, carefully removing the grass from near the plant,
drawing the soil a little around it. The sweep and cul-
tivator are the best plows to use in cultivating. Culti-
vate the plants while young with plow and hoe, working
the soil always to the plant, and "lay by" with a hoe in
same manner to keep plants from blowing down, and
cease to cultivate after it has all been topped, as too much
plowing and cultivating will sometimes make it too thick
and -leathery, for the chief aim in cigar leaf wrappers
should be to make the greatest possible number of leaves
to the pound. Three hundred perfect leaves to the pound
would better be worth $3 per pound than 100 leaves 30c.
Cigar leaf should not be plowed as much as plug leaf, as
plowing makes it heavier, as the roots are pruned more
than by hoeing. Aim to make, if possible, every leaf a
perfect wrapper, as wrapper leaves are worth more than
three times as much as imperfect leaves or "fillers."
WORMING.
The cut-worm will appear soon after transplanting,
sometimes the next day. The most effectual remedy is
Paris Green. Mix one tablespoonful with a gallon of
corn meal or flour, and sprinkle the plants, using a per-
forated tin can as a pepper box. The bud-worm appears
next. Use Paris Green in the same way. The horned
worm appears first about the first or middle of May.
This is the first "crop" to be dreaded, but not so serious
as the next "crop," which does not appear in Florida till
about the full moon in July, by which time I aim to have
of water, if need be, in order to secure a perfect stand at
once, for whenever there are missing places the plants on
the border thereof are apt to be thick and "leathery."
CULTIVATION OF THE PLANT.
About ten days after transplanting, go over with the
hoe, carefully removing the grass from near the plant,
drawing the soil a little around it. The sweep and cul-
tivator are the best plows to use in cultivating. Culti-
vate the plants while young with plow and hoe, working
the soil always to the plant, and "lay by" with a hoe in
same manner to keep plants from blowing down, and
cease to cultivate after it has all been topped, as too much
plowing and cultivating will sometimes make it too thick
and -leathery, for the chief aim in cigar leaf wrappers
should be to make the greatest possible number of leaves
to the pound. Three hundred perfect leaves to the pound
would better be worth $3 per pound than 100 leaves 30c.
Cigar leaf should not be plowed as much as plug leaf, as
plowing makes it heavier, as the roots are pruned more
than by hoeing. Aim to make, if possible, every leaf a
perfect wrapper, as wrapper leaves are worth more than
three times as much as imperfect leaves or "fillers."
WORMING.
The cut-worm will appear soon after transplanting,
sometimes the next day. The most effectual remedy is
Paris Green. Mix one tablespoonful with a gallon of
corn meal or flour, and sprinkle the plants, using a per-
forated tin can as a pepper box. The bud-worm appears
next. Use Paris Green in the same way. The horned
worm appears first about the first or middle of May.
This is the first "crop" to be dreaded, but not so serious
as the next "crop," which does not appear in Florida till
about the full moon in July, by which time I aim to have
most of the tobacco safely housed. The best remedy for
this great adversary to the tobacco crop is cobalt dis-
solved in honey or syrup diluted, putting a few drops
into somejimson (Jamestown or stramonium) blossoms
placed around the border of the field about sunset, on
small pieces of board with a few holes, nailed on sticks
three and a half feet high. One moth, "tobacco fly," de-
stroyed thus would deposit some 450 to 500 eggs, which
hatch in about seventy-two hours. It requires twenty-
one days for the horned worm to mature, when it
goes into the ground to come forth again in twenty-one
days (in summer) another moth to perpetuate her poster-
ity. The common wasp, dirt-dauber, yellow jacket, hor-
net, etc., are the best friends of the tobacco grower. I
have estimated that one red wasp would earn fifteen cents
daily in a tobacco patch. By all means foster and care
for them, but do not trust them to take all the worms off.
You must imitate the bird, and catch the worm before
the noon sun drives him to a hiding place. I have
learned not to use torch fires at night to destroy moth,
as more of our friends than enemies may be destroyed by
them.
TOPPING AND SUCKERING.
As soon as the blossom appears well, break it off,
leaving fifteen to twenty leaves. On plug tobacco leave
ten to twelve leaves only, not counting the sand or
ground leaves, which some "prime" off, but if the land is
sandy leave them on to protect the upper leaves from
sand. If the bud-worm has attacked a plant, and in-
jured it seriously, cut it off near the ground and let a
sucker take its place, which will do well surprisingly
soon. All the plants will not do to top at once, neither
to cut at once, unless the later topping is made lower,
which causes the leaves to. spread and grow too large.
"Suckers" will soon appear after topping, which
must be broken off when three or four inches long. Some
varieties put forth the second and third sucker, some
only one crop. The Vuelta Abajo is ready to cut after
the second crop of suckers is removed.
Tobacco is ripe and ready to cut when yellow spots
begin to appear on the surface of the leaves, or when it
will snap or break when pinched between the thumb and
finger. Cigar leaf, unlike plug leaf, should not be over-
ripe-better cut a day or two too soon than to let it get
over-ripe.
HARVESTING.
The plant should be cut with a sharp, strong knife,
entire and not split, as some do. By no means break off
the leaves in the field, except the Sumatra Wrap-
per or old Florida Speckled Wrapper, which grow
much taller and bear many more leaves than the Vuelta
Abajo or other types. Leaves thus gathered seem to
die, as it were, losing both elasticity and brilliancy-
besides, this old method is too tedious and expensive. I
am aware that gathering the leaves in baskets was once
popular in bright plug tobacco districts, but is now
being abandoned by many. In some respects cigar
leaf needs the very opposite treatment from plug leaf,
i. e., the former should run two or three hundred
leaves to the pound, the latter twenty to thirty. The
former needs humidity all the way through from the seed
to the cigar, and often water is used to wet the barn floor,
whereas the other needs a furnace. Cigar leaf must be
bulked almost damp, the other almost dry, so let no one
be led astray by agents of patent barns and flues from
plug districts, or laborers therefrom. My own experience
in Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky, misled me in
my first experiments in cigar leaf.
Never cut tobacco while the dew or rain drops
remain on the leaves, as black spots will result. I prefer
to cut in the afternoon, as the sun is getting weaker for
in the forenoon, unless cloudy, there is danger of sun-
burn, which will result in ten minutes just before noon.
Before and after the plant is cut be careful to remove
every worm, as they will destroy the tobacco if taken
into the barn, i. e., cigar leaf to be air-cured. If the
ground has not been cultivated for two or three weeks
before cutting, there will be a nice carpet of grass on
which to lay the tobacco when cut; don't lay it down in
the sand or dirt-select a shaded grassy place and after it
has wilted so as not to break,lay it very carefully on the straw
on the floor of the wagon, and when a medium load is on,
cover with a sheet or some weeds, so as to protect it from
the sun while en route to the barn, where it must be placed
on some straw or a rug very carefully, till the hand who
must remain there has speared it on the laths and put it
closely up on the bottom tier poles where it may remain
till next noonday, when it should be carried up and
adjusted on the upper tier poles. It should be put about
six inches apart on the laths, and they about seven or
eight inches apart on the poles.
CIGAR TOBACCO BARNS.
All barns should be convenient to the tobacco field.
For cigar leaf, never build one less than thirty feet wide
and sixteen feet high at the sides, and as long as you
please. You cannot let tobacco remain on the bottom tier
poles in this climate, as it would be liable to mould in
wet weather. A barn thirty-two by fifty, with sixteen feet
posts and siding, is sufficient for five acres, ordinarily.
The first cutting may often be stripped and boxed to
make room for the last cutting, as it will do to strip in
thirty-five to forty days if not very large. The tier poles
should be ten to twelve feet long.
Pine poles four or five inches in diameter, removing
the bark with drawknife, make the best poles, and even
good rafters. The posts should be 4x6, if sawed, and put
on sills, which is the best on the outside. The two rows
on inside (for there should be four rows of posts to have
three spaces-a driveway in the middle) may be cut
from the pine or cypress forests and placed on the
ground. The middle posts should be twenty feet long to
give pitch or slope to the roof. The eaves should pro-
ject twelve to eighteen inches, also the gable roof. The
roof must be ventilated at the top, so as to allow the hot
air to escape, otherwise the tobacco will char or "pole
burn" near the roof. The laths should be four feet and
two inches long-poles four feet apart, and three and
one-half feet one above the other-the first one five and
one-half feet from the ground floor. Windows should be
made between each post, which should be eight feet
apart. They should be as long as possible and the width
of three boards, say thirty or thirty-five inches wide and
eight or ten feet long, hung with strap hinges on top to
push out at bottom every night and close every dry day
while tobacco is hanging.
Barns for curing plug tobacco may be built of logs
cheaply, twenty feet high, and daubed with clay. The
entire cost of a barn twenty by thirty, and twenty feet
high, need not exceed $35 to $50, including the furnace
and flue pipes. One flue barn out of four is sufficient, as
the tobacco may be cured in forty-eight hours and
removed to the stripping barn, which should have a cel-
lar or "ordering room" near or under the stripping floor.
STRIPPING AND BOXING.
Cigar tobacco is ready to strip from the stalk even
before all the green has disappeared from the stalk, but
not until the stem of the leaf is cured. By opening win-
dows every night in July and August in Florida the
tobacco will be soft or "in case" every morning, when
enough should be taken down and covered to last the
strippers for one day. Beginners should make only three
or four
GRADES OF CIGAR LEAF.
First, wrappers (perfect leaves); second, binders (par-
tially perfect leaves); third, filler (ragged and all imper-
fect leaves). The fourth grade should be the trashy leaves
which, if sold at all, should not be included with the
crop. Always give the lower grade the benefit of the
doubtful leaf. The best plan is to take off all
the imperfect leaves first, leaving those with apparent
wrapper qualities for more critical examination. Bind
in "hands" (or bundles) of twenty to thirty leaves of
even length and quality, and keep under cover till noon
or evening, when it must be put into the boxes straight
and compact, lapping tips about six inches, and let the
butts be about one inch from the ends of the box so as
to allow the heat from the sweating process, which begins
at once, to escape. Keep tobacco in boxes covered with
cheap oil cloth while stripping, as a case or box may not
be filled for several days. When full fit boards and press
down by standing on boards, or a small lever may be
used. When the box is full it is ready for the local buyer,
who expects to re-handle it in his own warehouse (until
the average Florida tobacco grower has learned to grade
more accurately) and sweat and otherwise prepare it for
the manufacturer, or the greater markets of this and for-
eign countries. It pays the farmer better to sell quickly
and take a few cents less and let the local dealer re-handle
and grade more perfectly, and sweat it or "behine it,"
thereby relieving the planter of a task he cannot well
perform; if indeed they will pay him a fair price, oth-
erwise he would better have it sweated or "betuned and
prepared for the manufacturer. Sometimes one hundred
to five hundred per cent may be saved in this way.
These rules for stripping, boxing, etc., do not
apply to bright plug leaf tobacco, which is to be "prized"
into hogsheads of 750 to 1,000 pounds. Kiln-dried
tobacco will not keep sound if the stem is soft when
bulked or prized; the stem should snap when bent
between the fingers. Air-cured tobacco may be boxed
when quite damp, for the fabric of the leaf, the cellular
tissue has not been broken down by intense fire heat, as it
is of the kiln-dried or flue-cured.
Never undertake to soften or bring tobacco in case
to strip or handle by "sprinkling or pouring," much less
by "immersion." Nevertheless, if the weather should be
dry and windy, and should so continue, your crop will be
in great danger (in Florida) of injury from evaporation
and deterioration becoming dry and harsh or "bony and
crusty." It should be put into the cases (boxes), which
should be two or two and a half feet wide and deep, by
three or three and a half feet long (but not made of pitch
pine, as it will impart the turpentine odor), by or before
the end of October or November (unless it is a fall crop,
which is possible). It is important, to obtain the best
results, to put Florida cigar tobacco in the boxes before
its "life blood" has been evaporated by hanging too long
on the poles. In other words, its inherent moisture (sap)
should be conserved by early stripping and boxing, for
therein consists the secret of preserving the life, aroma,
brilliancy, and elasticity of the article, which keep it soft,
rich and mellow, besides preventing its corruption and
consumption by moth and rust; for if this rule is not
observed, and the tobacco is put up in a declining condi-
tion, so it will continue until for a year or two,
when the little white worm, sometimes seen in old cigars
made of poor, lifeless tobacco, will attack and consume
it. Here, then, is a dilemma if the weather is dry and
windy, and the question arises
HOW TO SOFTEN THE TOBACCO
without spraying or sprinkling, which would often ruin
it. For $5 or $10 (or none if you do the simple work
yourself) you may have a softening room in one corner of
your barn, or on the outside, by digging a pit about 5
feet deep, by 10 or more square, in the ground. If clay,
no wall of logs, boards or brick is needed. Build above
ground about 3j or 5 feet an air tight wall. The roof
may be nearly flat, but may be covered with the earth
taken out of the pit. Have only one opening or door.
Put tier poles or light strips in this room, and place on
them a sufficient quantity of tobacco to strip next day.
It will become soft and pliable in one night.
BRIGHT PLUG WRAPPER.
It has already been demonstrated that Florida soil
and climate are probably better adapted to the production
of fine bright plug wrapper, "cutter" (cigarette), and pipe
tobacco than even Va., N. C., or S. C. The soil, climate,
seasons, and immunity from storms and frosts, which very
often cut short the crop in those States, make Florida,
especially North Florida, preeminently the New Eldorado
of the U. S. for growers of these types of tobacco, and the
fact that they always command a ready cash market at
from 10 to 100 cents per pound should stimulate the
growing of them extensively in Florida. Scores of young
men from Va. and N. C. are ready to come to Florida for
this purpose at fair wages. Any practical farmer can
learn it in one year by close application. The foregoing
instructions on cigar leaf from the seed-bed to setting it
when the little white worm, sometimes seen in old cigars
made of poor, lifeless tobacco, will attack and consume
it. Here, then, is a dilemma if the weather is dry and
windy, and the question arises
HOW TO SOFTEN THE TOBACCO
without spraying or sprinkling, which would often ruin
it. For $5 or $10 (or none if you do the simple work
yourself) you may have a softening room in one corner of
your barn, or on the outside, by digging a pit about 5
feet deep, by 10 or more square, in the ground. If clay,
no wall of logs, boards or brick is needed. Build above
ground about 3j or 5 feet an air tight wall. The roof
may be nearly flat, but may be covered with the earth
taken out of the pit. Have only one opening or door.
Put tier poles or light strips in this room, and place on
them a sufficient quantity of tobacco to strip next day.
It will become soft and pliable in one night.
BRIGHT PLUG WRAPPER.
It has already been demonstrated that Florida soil
and climate are probably better adapted to the production
of fine bright plug wrapper, "cutter" (cigarette), and pipe
tobacco than even Va., N. C., or S. C. The soil, climate,
seasons, and immunity from storms and frosts, which very
often cut short the crop in those States, make Florida,
especially North Florida, preeminently the New Eldorado
of the U. S. for growers of these types of tobacco, and the
fact that they always command a ready cash market at
from 10 to 100 cents per pound should stimulate the
growing of them extensively in Florida. Scores of young
men from Va. and N. C. are ready to come to Florida for
this purpose at fair wages. Any practical farmer can
learn it in one year by close application. The foregoing
instructions on cigar leaf from the seed-bed to setting it
out, are applicable to plug tobacco, which should be
planted about 3x31 feet, and topped at 10 to 12 leaves.
This and the curing process and the prizingg order" or
case, constitute the main points of difference.
The only reason for flue curing or kiln-drying, is this:
Everybody knows that the green foliage of trees and plants
must turn yellow before it gets "brown and sear." Now the
object of the flue or furnace is to raise the heat in the
barn rapidly, when the tobacco has turned yellow, and
fasten the yellow color in the leaf and stem within 48 hours
or less; then it may be removed into the stripping barn,
and the flue barn may be used for the next cutting.
PLUG TOBACCO BARN.
These flue barns may be built of logs or boards
1x10 or 12 inches, 18x20 feet, and 20 feet high, closely
battened. They may be daubed with clay. The expense
need not exceed $35 to $50. The furnaces may be built
of brick or rock each side of the door 18 to 20 inches high
and about 6 feet long-opening under an arch or heavy
sheet iron top from the outside, in which the fuel is to
be burnt. The flue pipe, 10 or 12 inches in diameter, is
connected with the furnace reaching to back side of the
barn and returning parallel, through the wall near the
door and turned up about 6 feet for chimney. A ther-
mometer must be used to regulate the heat.
It will be necessary in a future bulletin to give more
minute details in curing, bulking, grading and "ordering'
i. e., the proper order or case in which this kiln-dried leaf
must be prized into hogsheads to insure its safekeeping.
At this point cigar leaf growers and manipulators would
surely "slip up," as intimated above.
I omitted to state that the best types of bright plug
leaf are the Long Gooch and White Stem Orinoko.
They can be bought of the Raglan Seed Farm, Hyco,
Va., at about $2.00 per pound, and they can be relied on
as fresh and genuine; or may be had by applying to
the Commissioner of Agriculture, Hon. L. B. Wombwell,
Tallahassee, Fla.
NOTES.
1. Page 118. Sumatra seed, being more tropical,
should not be sown in north Florida till February Ist
to March 1st, and the beds should always be covered
with canvas to keep a more even temperature. It is
thought that this type should be planted about a month
later than others mentioned.
2. p. 121. The effect of limestone on tobacco should
be better understood. Between the lower Silurian and
upper Carboniferous strata there are many different lime-
stones, which differentiate the soils by their disintegration.
1 see that some Cuban experts are looking for Calcareous
surface rock as indication of tobacco lands that will give
combustivity. They will find, perhaps too late, that
the Andean oolite rocks of Cuba affect tih soil quite
differently from the massive rotten limestone of Florida.
In a future publication this relation of geology to botany
as it affects different types of tobacco, will be more fully
discussed.
3. p. 127. If enough cotton-seed meal be used to get,
say 150 pounds of potash per acre, the meal would yield
so much nitrogen that the leaf would be darkened, and
every one knows that dark leaf of equal quality will not
command half as much as light colors.
4. p. 130. To tlhe direction not to break off leaves in
the fields, the Sumatra and old Florida wrapper may be
an exception. They grow much taller and in order to
secure the bottom leaves before the top ones ripen they
should be "primed off" and taken in largflat baskets to
the barn, and strung on slender laths, cord, or wire. I
prefer wire, cut into fifteen inch lengths and pierced
through the large end of the stem, the leaves being'put
face to face or back to back, not "spooned." Put three
of these astride the lath or stem and hang on poles.
5. p. 134. "Kiln-dried" or "flue-cured" will not stand
the moist ferment or sweating process necessary for cigar
leaf. It would very soon "funk", blacken and rot, for the
fabric or cellular tissue was destroyed by the intense heat.
This subject is important, and will be discussed in future.
3- 2102W "
|