Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce Part 39

In tropical regions, the plants are transplanted as well in summer and fall as in the spring, but more frequently in the early autumn. In Mexico, transplanting is performed from August till November. In Persia, the tobacco plants are "transplanted on the tops of ridges in a ground trenched so as to retain water. When the plants are thirty to forty inches high, the leaves vary from three to fifteen inches in length, when the buds are ready to be pinched off; the leaves increase in size until August and September, when they have attained their growth." In Turkey "when the young plants are about six inches in height they are removed from the small beds and planted in fields like cabbages in this country, and are then left to nature to develop them to a height of from three to four feet; three leaves, however, are removed from each plant to a.s.sist its growth."

[Ill.u.s.tration: American transplanter.]

A year or two since, a machine was invented and offered to the growers of the Connecticut valley, called a transplanter, of which we here give an engraving. The inventor claimed that the "American Transplanter" could do the work of several men and do it equally well.

It rolls along the ridge something like a wheelbarrow, marking the hills with a sharp joint in the wheel and setting the plants as they are dropped into the receptacles at the top.

The tobacco plant, like most of the vegetable products, has many and varied foes. Not only is it most easily affected and damaged by wind and hail, but it seems to be the especial favorite of the insect world, who, like man, love the taste of the plant. The first of them "puts in an appearance" immediately after transplanting, which necessitates the performance of what is known to all growers of the plant as

WORMING.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The worm.]

There are two kinds of worms that prey upon the plants; viz: the "cut worm"[76] and the green or "horn worm." The first commences its work of destruction in a few hours after transplanting in the field. During the night it begins by eating off the small or central leaves called by the grower the "chit," and often so effectually as to destroy the plant. The time chosen by the planter to find these pests of the tobacco field is early in the morning, when they can be found nearer the surface than later in the day. Remove the earth around the roots of the plants, where the worm will generally be found. Occasionally they are found farther from the hill. If they are numerous, the field should be "wormed" every morning, or at least every other day, which labor will be rewarded with a choice collection of primitive tobacco chewers. Sometimes the worms are very small and difficult to find, while at other times more are found than are required for the growth and development of the plants. As soon as they disappear they make way for the "horn worm" who now takes his turn at a "chaw." By some the cut worm is considered the most dangerous foe; as it often destroys the plant, while the other injures the leaf without endangering the plant. A little plaster sprinkled around the hill sometimes checks their progress, yet we have never found any remedy that would hinder their depredations very much. The plants should be kept growing as soon as transplanted, which will be found the better method, as they will soon be too large for the cut worm to injure them much, if at all.

[Footnote 76: Hughes, in his History of Barbadoes, says that the common people call the worm kitifonia.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Worming tobacco.]

The "horn worm" feeds upon the finest and largest leaves. They are not found as often on the top leaves--especially those growing on the very highest part of the stalk, as they prefer the ripe leaves and those lower on the plant. The horn worm, if large, eats the leaves in the finest part of them, frequently destroying half of a leaf. They leave large holes which renders the leaf worthless for a cigar wrapper, leaving it fit only for fillers or seconds. In Cuba the tobacco plant is a.s.sailed by three different kinds of insects--one attacks the foot of the leaves; a second the under side; a third devours the heart of the plant. In Colombia the following are the great enemies of the tobacco plant: A grub, named _canne_, which devours the young buds; the _rosca-worm_, which commits its depredations in the night only, burrowing in the ground during the day; the grub of a b.u.t.terfly, called by the Creoles _palometa_; a species of scarabaeus called _arader_, which feeds on the root of the plant; and a species of caterpillar[77] which is called in the country the _horned-worm_, so voracious as to require one night only to devour an entire leaf of tobacco. At the South, and especially in Virginia, the housewife's flock of turkeys are allowed to range in the tobacco fields and devour many of these pests.

[Footnote 77: Wallace says of worming tobacco in Brazil: "The plants are much attacked by the caterpillar of a sphinx moth, which grows to a large size, and would completely devour the crop unless carefully picked off.

Old men, and women, and children are therefore constantly employed going over a part of the field every day, and carefully examining the plants leaf by leaf till the insects are completely exterminated."]

Almost as soon as the plants have been transplanted, the work of

CULTIVATING

should commence. As the tobacco plant grows and ripens in a few weeks from the time it is transplanted in the field, it is of the utmost importance that the plants get "a good start" as soon as possible. In a favorable season, and with ordinary culture, the plants will do to harvest or "cut" in from eight to ten weeks after transplanting. From the rapidity of its growth it will readily be seen that the plant should come forward at once, if large, fine leaves are desired. In a week from the time of transplanting a light cultivator should be run between the rows, stirring the soil lightly, after which the plants should be hoed carefully, drawing away from the hill and plant the old and "baked" earth and replacing it with fresh. If the hill is hard around the plant it should be loosened by striking the hoe carefully into the hill and gently lifting the earth, thus making the hill mellow. This is apt to be the case with stiff, clayey soil, which, if possible, should be avoided in selecting the tobacco field.

It is doubtless as true a saying as it is a common one with Connecticut tobacco-growers, that the plants will not "start much until they have been hoed." Where the first hoeing is delayed two or three weeks, the plants will to a certain extent become stunted and dwarfed, and will hardly make up for the delay in growing. In from two to three weeks, the field should be hoed again, and this time the cultivator should mellow the soil a little deeper than the first time, while the hoeing should be done in the most thorough manner. Draw the earth around the plant and cut up with the hoe all gra.s.s and weeds, and remove all stone and lumps of manure and any rubbish that will hinder easy cultivation, or r.e.t.a.r.d the growth of the plants. At this period the most careful attention must be given to the plants, as they are (or ought to be) growing rapidly, and upon their early maturity will depend the color and texture of the leaf.

In a short time the plants may be hoed for the third and last time (as a fourth hoeing is but rarely necessary). At this time they have attained considerable size, (say two or three feet high) and are rapidly maturing, and ere long will be ready to harvest. At the last hoeing the plants should be "hilled up," that is, the earth should be drawn around the plant under the leaves, causing it to stand firmly in the hill, and keeping the roots well protected and covered. The tobacco plant requires constant cultivation, and the cultivator may be run through the rows after loosening the earth and turning up the manure towards the plants.

Some growers of tobacco in the early stages of its growth apply some kind of fertilizers to the backward plants; this will be found to be of advantage, and should be done just before a rain, when the plants will start in a manner almost surprising. A little phosphate or Peruvian guano may be used, but should be applied with care or the plants may be r.e.t.a.r.ded instead of quickened in their growth.

There is much to be done in the tobacco field besides cultivating and hoeing the plants. In many hills there will be found two plants, which should be re-set at the second hoeing if needed, and if not, pulled up and destroyed, as it is better to have one large plant in the hill than two small ones. Again, after the last hoeing, the tobacco should be kept free from worms. If any have been overlooked they will have attained to a good size by this time, and will devour in a short time enough tobacco to make a "short six."

From this account of the cultivation of tobacco as practiced in the Connecticut valley, one will readily see that the labor performed during the growing of the plants should not be superficial. On their rapid growth depends the color and texture of the leaf. Plants that are slow in maturing never make fine wrapping leaves or show a good color. Where the growth is rapid the plants will be more brittle than if of slower growth, and must therefore be handled with care in pa.s.sing through the rows to worm, top, and sucker the plants.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Topping.]

A century ago the Virginia planters cultivated their tobacco fields in the following manner:--

"Hoeing commences with the first growth of the tobacco after transplantation, and never ceases until the plant is nearly ripe, and ready to be laid by, as they term the last weeding with the hoe; for he who would have a good crop of tobacco, or of maize, must not be sparing of his labor, but must keep the ground constantly stirring during the whole growth of the crop. And it is a rare instance to see the plough introduced as an a.s.sistant, unless it be the slook plough, for the purpose of introducing a sowing of wheat for the following year, even while the present crop is growing; and this is frequently practiced in fields of maize, and sometimes in fields of tobacco, which may be ranked amongst the best fallow crops, as it leaves the ground perfectly clean and naked, permitting neither gra.s.s, weed, nor vegetable to remain standing in the s.p.a.ce which it has occupied."

The next operation to be performed in the tobacco field is known by the name of

TOPPING,

and is simply breaking or cutting off the top of the stalk, preventing the plant from running up to flower and seed. By so doing the growth of the leaves is secured, and they at once develop to the largest possible size. The leaves ripen sooner if the plant is topped, while the quality is much better. There are various methods of topping as well as different periods. Some growers top the plant as soon as the capsules appear, while others wait until the plants are in full blossom. If topped before the plants have come into blossom, the operation should be performed as soon as possible, as a longer time will be required for the leaves to grow and ripen than when topping is delayed until the plants are in blossom. In the Connecticut valley most growers wait until the blossoms appear before breaking off the top. Topping must not be delayed after the blossoming, in order that all danger from an untimely frost may be avoided. The top may be broken off with the hand or cut with a knife, the latter being the better as well as the safer way. Sometimes the rain soaks into the stalk, rotting it so that the leaves fall off, injuring them for wrappers. Top the plants at a regular height, leaving from nine to twelve leaves, so that the field will look even, and also make the number of leaves to a plant uniform. Late plants may be topped with the rest or not, at the option of the grower. This mode of topping refers more particularly to cigar rather than cutting leaf. Those varieties of tobacco adapted for cutting leaf should be topped as soon as the b.u.t.ton appears; top low, thereby throwing the strength of the stalk into a few leaves, making them large and heavy. The number of leaves should not exceed fourteen. Let it stand from five to six weeks after it is topped. The object in letting it stand so long after topping is to have it thoroughly ripe. This gives it the bright, rich, golden color, entirely different from cigar leaf, but very desirable for chewing leaf. On account of the length of time it must stand after topping, it is desirable to take that which has been topped early, in order to have it ripen, and get it in before a freeze, although ripe tobacco is not injured by cold nights, and will sometimes stand even an ordinary frost.

The manner of topping in Virginia by the first planters in the colony, is thus described:--

"This operation, simply, is that of pinching off with the thumb nail[78] the leading stem or sprout of the plant, which would, if left alone, run up to flower and seed; but which, from the more substantial formation of the leaf by the help of the nutritive juices, which are thereby afforded to the lower parts of the plant, and thus absorbed through the ducts and fibres of the leaf, is rendered more weighty, thick, and fit for market."

[Footnote 78: Many of the Virginians let the thumb nail grow long, and harden it in the candle, for this purpose: not for the use of gouging out people's eyes, as some have thought fit to insinuate.]

Now the custom is to top for shipping from eight to ten leaves, for coal-curing from ten to twelve, according in both cases to strength of soil and time of doing the work.

In Mexico "as soon as the buds begin to show themselves the top is broken off. Not more than from eight to ten leaves are left on the plant, without counting the sand-leaf, which is thrown away," and destroyed in the same manner as the Dutch are said to do of spies. In some countries the plants are not topped at all, and the leaves are left upon the stalk until fully ripe, when they are picked.

The next labor following the topping of the plants is called

SUCKERING.

Immediately after topping the plants, shoots or sprouts make their appearance at the base of the leaves where they join the parent stalk.

They are known by the name of suckers and the removal of them by breaking them off is called suckering. At first the suckers make their appearance at the top of the plants at the base of the upper leaves, and then gradually appear farther down on the stalk until they are found at the very root of the plant. The plants should be suckered before the shoots are tough, when they will be removed with difficulty, frequently clinging to both stalk and leaf, thereby injuring the latter, as the leaf very often comes off with the sucker if the latter is left growing too long. The plants should be kept clean of them and especially at the time of harvesting.

An old writer on tobacco says of Suckers and Suckering:--

"The sucker is a superfluous sprout which is wont to make its appearance and shoot forth from the stem or stalk, near to the junction of the leaves with the stem, and about the root of the plant and if these suckers are permitted to grow, they injure the marketable quality of the tobacco by compelling a division of its nutriment during the act of maturation. The planter is therefore careful to destroy these intruders with the thumb-nail as in the act of topping, and this process is termed suckering."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Suckering.]

After this operation is performed the planter ascertains in regard to the

RIPENING OF THE PLANTS.

As soon as the plants are fully ripe they not only take on a different hue but give evidence of decay. The leaves as they ripen become rougher and thicker, a.s.sume a tint of yellowish green and are frequently mottled with yellow spots. The tobacco grower has two signs which he regards as "infallible" in this matter. One is that on pinching the under part of the leaf together, if ripe it will crack or break; the other is the growth of suckers to be found (if ripe) around the base of the stalk.

Tatham says:--

"Much practice is requisite to form a judicious discernment concerning the state and progress of the ripening leaf; yet care must be used to cut up the plant as soon as it is sufficiently ripe to promise a good curable condition, lest the approach of frost should tread upon the heels of the crop-master; for in this case, tobacco will be among the first plants that feel its influence, and the loss to be apprehended in this instance, is not a mere partial damage by nipping, but a total consumption by the destruction of every plant. I find it difficult to give to strangers a full idea of the ripening of the leaf: it is a point on which I would not trust my own experience without consulting some able crop-master in the neighborhood; and I believe this is not an uncustomary precaution among those who plant it. So far as I am able to convey an idea, which I find it easier to understand than to express, I should judge of the ripening of the leaf by its thickening sufficiently; by the change of its color to a more yellowish green; by a certain mellow appearance, and protrusion of the web of the leaf, which I suppose to be occasioned by a contraction of the fibres; and other appearances as I might conceive to indicate an ultimate suspension of the vegetative functions."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cutting the plants.]

After the plants have ripened the operation of cutting or

HARVESTING

begins. The cutter pa.s.ses from plant to plant cutting only those plants that are ripe. In harvesting a light hatchet or saw may be used or a tobacco cutter which is the better and not as liable to injure the leaves. The plants may be cut either in the morning (after the dew is off) or just at night, providing there are no indications of frost. Lay the plants carefully on the sides to avoid breaking the leaves. If the plants are cut during a very warm day they should be examined from time to time as they are liable to "sun-burn," an injury much dreaded by the planter, as sun-burnt leaves are useless for cigar wrappers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Putting on lath.]