Burley Tobacco
Comparwl «villi bright loaf, there
isn't nun'll «lifferenee in the
process of cultivation. Hut when
it conies to harvesting — that's a
horse of a different color.
By i:ih;ak aki:km:thv
“IT’S a gold mine!” say mountain
I farmers, and they're just about
I right, for no crop grown in their
area gives such consistently high
returns under present conditions
as burley tobacco. Last year the
average grower received the tidy
sum of six hundred dollars per
acre for his crop, and he ought to
do about as well this season.
Twas not ever thus. In 1931,
for instance, that same grower
took in only $75 per acre. That
was the year the weed brought only
ten or eleven cents per pound. Last
year it averaged around 50 cents,
Burley usually brings a slight
premium over the flue-cured type.
Increase in Production
Today most of our mountain
counties grow a little burley. In
1926, the earliest year for which
we have accurate records, there
were only a few counties on the
list, and Madison grew twice as
much as all the rest put together.
Madison still leads, growing today
nearly half the state s total. Bun¬
combe, Haywood, Yancey, and
Ashe also grow a considerable
acreage, and, as stated above, quite
a number of others grow a little.
Burley is not quite so expensive
to grow os the flue-cured type of
tobacco; it doesn’t require such
heavy fertilization. This is due to
the fact that in order to get the
highest quality, bright-leaf to¬
bacco must be grown on compara¬
tively light soil, while burley
thrives on the very best bottom
land, brought to its highest state
of fertility by the use of cover
crops and other soil-building prac¬
tices.
Aside from this, there’s not a
great deal of difference in methods
used in actually growing the two
types. In both cases plant beds,
setting the plants, cultivating,
worming, suckering, hoeing, and
topping arc handled in pretty much
the same manner. "Handled" is
right, too, for no field crop re¬
quires more hand work or more
man-hours per acre. From the time
the plant beds are burned in late
winter until the finished product
reaches the auction floor eleven
months or so later there’s hardly
a week when there’s not something
to do about it.
When the leaves reach a cer¬
tain particular shade of gold, the
harvest begins. This is usually
late in August, although if the
plants were set a little late it might
be somewhat later than that. Both
harvesting and curing burley are
simple matters compared with the
way bright-leaf is handled. Both
types are handled on sticks, and
that’s about the only similarity
in the processes.
Entire Stalk is Cut
In the case of burley, the entire
stalk is cut; the leaves are not
stripped until the curing process
is complete. The harvester sets
the stick up vertically, one end
being forced into the ground. A
pointed metal "spud" is slipped
over the other end. and the stem
of the plant is pressed down upon
it, thus splitting the stem and
stringing the entire plant upon
the stick. Several plants are placed
upon each stick.
Burley is entirely air-cured; no
artificial heat whatever being
used. As soon as it is placed upon
the sticks it is ready for hanging
in the barn, which may be a build¬
ing especially constructed for the
purpose, or more likely, simply a
cattle barn which serves a dual
purpose. Almost any kind of
building will do, provided it is
well-ventilated. It takes lots of
space, for plenty of room must be
left for air circulation. Some
farmers hang the plants out of
doors for a few days until they
wilt, so they will use up less barn
space, but this practice is not
recommended; it sometimes lowers
the quality.
Yields per acre have almost
doubled in recent years, due to im¬
provements in methods of culture.
Top picture; An unusually fine
stand of Judas Pride burley to¬
bacco. It is on the farm of Mr.
W.* N. Banks, near Barnardsvillc.
Bottom picture: A typical hurley
barn.
The average yield a few years ago
was only 700 pounds; today it is
more than 1,200.
This year the crop is so good
that many farmers are short of
barn space, and in the emergency
are using all sorts of buildings. It
wouldn’t be surprising to learn of
a church serving temporarily as
a tobacco barn, but so far this has
not been reported.
It takes a high degree of skill
to do a good curing job on Hue-
cured tobacco, but the burley
( Continued on page 18)
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