Extent of the industry.
The widely varying types of soil in the tobacco districts, and the different varieties of tobacco, have made it possible to produce products suitable for the manufacture of the varied products de manded by the consumers. Some idea of the value of the crop may be gained from the estimate of the value of the crop in 1906, in the United States. About 796,099 acres of tobacco were grown, pro ducing an average yield of 857.2 podrids to the acre, or a total of 682,428,530 pounds. The average value of the crop was about ten cents per pound, or a total of about $68,232,647. The value of the manu factured products of tobacco in 1900 was $283, 076,546. The products may be divided into three general classes, of which the values were as fol lows : Cigars and cigarettes, $160, 223,152 ; chew ing, smoking and snuff products, $103,754,362 ; stem-used and rehandled tobacco, $19,099,032. In the manufacture of these products, 142,277 persons were employed, who earned a total wage of $49, 852,484. In addition to the tobacco grown in the United States, there was imported into the United States during the year ended June 30, 1906, $4,143,192 worth of tobacco in a manufac tured condition, and $22,447,514 worth of unmanu factured products, making a total value of imported tobacco of $26,590,706. In 1891, the tobacco in dustry furnished almost $50,000,000 revenue to federal government, and this revenue now amounts to one-eighth of the total net receipts. Tobacco has now become one of the great staple crops of the United States, and is being looked on as a nec essity rather than a luxury by the people. Its culture is rapidly extending to all quarters of the globe, and its use for smoking, chewing, snuff and medicinal purposes is increasing at a tremendous rate.
Varieties.
The character of the tobacco plant is profoundly affected by the conditions of soil and climate. The flavor, aroma, "burn" and texture of the leaf are particularly affected by these conditions, so that certain sections come to be recognized as specially adapted for growing a special type of tobacco. It has been asserted that the aroma of the leaf is specially influenced by climatic conditions, while texture is affected most seriously by soil condi tions. For example, the light, thin, elastic, cigar wrapper leaf varieties of New England when grown in the heavy clay soil of Tennessee assume the heavy non-elastic character of the Tennessee to baccos. The fact that a change of seed from one
section to others induces variability has been taken advantage of in the production of new varieties. An illustration is found in the origin of the Burley variety. George Webb, of Brown county, Ohio, found a few striking light-colored plants in a field of tobacco grown from Red Burley seed. The Red Burley seed came from Kentucky, and when grown under different conditions in Ohio threw these sports. Mr. Webb saved the seed of these plants and set out a small field from them the following season. This tobacco proved so desirable that the culture gradually extended until White Burley has become the most extensively cultivated variety in the United States. Another typical illus tration is the Uncle Sam Sumatra variety, produced by the writer. In 1903, in the Connecticut valley considerable areas were cultivated to a variety the seed of which was secured from Florida. The marked change of conditions induced tremendous variability. One of the types found in these fields was ideal from the cigar-wrapper standpoint. The leaves were beautifully rounded, of fine venation and color. It was distinct from every other type produced. Seed was saved under bag from these plants, and was found to produce uniform strains of tobacco. The best of these strains has been developed into an established variety which is now grown extensively, producing a better grade of tobacco for wrapper purposes than any heretofore grown.
The tobacco flower is naturally self-fertile, and plants grown from self-fertilized seed are always stronger and more vigorous than those from cross pollinated seed when the crossing is within the variety. The vitality of tobacco seed is retained with little loss for several years, providing the seed is kept in a warm, dry place and in a glass or other safe receptacle. The writer has often secured plants from seed known to be more than twenty years old. However, it is not safe to depend on such seed for planting on an extensive scale. The loss of vitality in old seed is shown by slow ger mination and other weak characters of the plants.