Tobacco Supply of the World (1949)

the principal tobacco growing areas of the world are found in the United States of America in India in Soviet Russia in China and in the Balkans and around the aan sea other smaller areas are found in Cuba in Java in Brazil and in southern rodesia tobacco is grown in southern rodesia in four areas around Solsbury the climate in southern rodesia is hot in the daytime but cool at night there's a heavy rainfall in the summer months whilst the plants are growing after the rains the hot sun ripens the the tobacco suitable soil is the most important factor in tobacco growing and the rodisian grower often has to clear Forest land to provide the right sort of soil for his plants let's look for a moment at a typical tobacco farm to see how people live and work there this large house or Homestead belongs to the tobacco grower he's the most important person on the farm his native laborers live in Huts somewhere away from the other buildings each day they work in the fields which lie all around the farm when the tobacco is grown and ripened they carry it into the curing bars the young tobacco plant are grown and tended in specially prepared seed beds at the beginning of the year the natives work on the seed beds preparing them for the spring setting first they cover the narrow beds with Brushwood and then set far to the wood the branches and twigs flare up destroying any pests that may be in the soil the fire burns out leaving only a fine wood ash which is hoed into the soil to make it more fertile the seed beds are sewn at different times so that all the crop will not ripen at once the grower supervises the sewing tobacco seed is in the form of a fine powder and the best me meth of sring it is to put a teaspoonful of seed into a watering can and then pour the mixture onto the seed bed after sewing the beds are covered with grass to protect the seeds from the fierce sun and from insects this covering is raised on sticks as soon as the young plants appear and they are watered two or three times a day the plants continue to grow until they're ready for transplanting from the beds to the fields the fields themselves are plowed up ready to receive the plants after the first plowing the fields are harrowed and then plowed again so that the soil is thrown up in Long ridges across the field natives go along these ridges with hes and measuring sticks marking out the positions for the young plants other natives follow putting a handful of of fertilizer on the same spot at the seed beds the young plants are dug up for transplanting the plants are laid on a sort of stretcher called a mashila and covered with sackcloth before the grower can transplant his plants he must wait for overcast or rainy weather when conditions are favorable the machila is carried to the tobacco Fields native women and children take handfuls of the plant and walking along between The Ridges they drop them onto the positions already marked out the men follow up behind putting the plants into the ground after each one has been planted it's given a quick pull to make sure that it's firmly rooted after a few weeks the plants have grown up and must be cultivated the natives snap off the lower leaves to strengthen the remainder of the plant then they run a ridge plow down between the rows to loosen the soil at the base of the plants later on the plants come into flow the best of the flower heads must be kept for next year seed the grower ties a paper bag around a number of the flower heads and the rest are broken off and thrown away so that the strength of the plant goes into the leaves reaping begins soon after and the natives reap each ripe Leaf off the plants panins collect piles of leaves and carry them to the mashila each plant is reaped three or four times before the stalk is bare and the lowest leaves are always pulled first when the mashila is piled high with leaves it's covered with sackcloth and carried to a wagon the wagon is then driven to the curing barns the maila is unloaded and carried to the tying sheds two boys pass the tobacco leaves back to the tying boy who ties them onto a stick so that the leaves hang down on either side when the sticks are full natives carry them into the curing bands the curing barns are tall buildings with racks arranged all the way up their height the sticks of tobacco are placed on them and when the barn is full curing Begins the leaves are dried in a temperature of 85° F to 160° F and the furnace is fired with coal or wood this curing lasts about 4 to 5 days until the leaves turn a bright yellow color they're taken out of the bars and carried to another shed where they are untied and laid in piles here they are left to mature for some weeks then native women grade the tobacco according to the quality of each Leaf the graded leaves are tied in separate bundles and placed in a box finally they are pressed into Bales ready to be sent to soulsbury for sale there the year's work is now over but soon it'll be spring again and the natives will Begin work on a new crop sewing transplanting cultivating reaping and curing in Salsbury the tobacco G must find a buyer and then arrange for his crop to be sold by auction it is then shipped to England arriving in England the tobacco is unloaded and dispatched to the manufacturers once in the factories it's turned into cigarettes and pipe tobacco for British customers throughout the country for