tation of burley was built was the fact that it was hrst longer a nitrogen—starved crop at topping time. ln-
grown almost (entirely on deep, well-clrainecl soil of stead of ripening quickly after topping, it often re»
limestone origin. It has always grown best on this type mains green until cut, and its leaves are high in nico- A
of land. However, as production of burley has spread tine and other nitrogenous compounds that make a ‘
into other areas, since the nineteen-thirties, a consider- harsh smoking tobacco. SL
able part of the spread has been to land which is ·,_
neither naturally fertile nor well drained. Why do manufacturers continue to buy
_ _ _ high-nicotine burley? B ~
§**s=*_ ¤* *·¢¤*v *¤**·,',·=¤*··>¤ ¤···*· Many farmers are [Mata ts, tha isa that companies
c°nlmu°us Culture have continued to buy burley averaging high in nico- ·
BY ilmllllfl l94f)· mflllll gmlllcls Ol butler were tine and have paid good prices for it, while at the {
realizing the advantages of heavy fertilization for Same time ii is evident that iliov `vill have iioiiblo - .'
l)l‘)llllClllf·l lllfge Yl€l(lS· ilml Some llilll resorted l') the using it in cigarettes. \\lith the control program and Q
l)fil‘ill(`€ ‘)l f-Zlolflllfl il llilflclll feslsllllll lf) l)l“l* l")‘)l price supports it is inevitable that the price of such g E
ml Yclll *lll€l` Yelll ()ll lllc Sillllc Kmllllll lll t>rl€ “·|lCl—C me SQ{l]]ll)l€S are partictilarly high those com- "»
"*ll`l`Y')l'Cl ')l lllll")$ll*ll ll`f)l)l ‘)llC Ycllf ll) lllc l‘€Xl· panies buy very little tobacco. ln other areas they buy
Yields were increased enormously. molvo ' ' ' “°‘;
During the war period, when farm labor was scarce, Aoollieit lull ol llio Hmivoi. is that il ig iiiioossililo Y
these practices had some justification, for they per- lo tell lvom looking at tobacco loaves vvhothm- they are { A
tuittecl a relatively small labor force to produce enough liigli ol. lov`, io oivolioo oi. other Compounds thm mzilvo ‘
l)llfl°Y ll) lll€€l lllc l)C€ll* ‘)li lllc illlllell lf)l`l`€** {ls lllell a harsh smoking tobacco. Buyers have been trained if
lls ‘)l lllli llllilllllll f)‘)l)lllllll‘)ll· to give preference to leaf of a certain color and texture, `
, but they cannot tell, on the market floor, whether the le
Effect of support prices , _ ’ , _ ,- . .   . .
v_ _ _ _ _ _ tobacco they choose will haye the chemical m.1ke—up
))llll lllc Cslflllllsllmg Ol “lll)l")l'l lmlles l°li_l)lll`l€ll their companies want. Much tobacco is purchased
tobacco the proclucers were guaranteed a good income vv.lii(.h llic (.omliliiii(,S liilci. liml (lilliliill lo uso h
for their product, and they could devote their energies
and thought yto cluautity production rather lhan to The problem faced by farmers
cluahty. \\lu|c· no doubt most. producers still were Wil _ y_ _ l . _ I _ Iii L V l_ . l. _.i yi __
intc·restecl in cluality, they cluickly learned that so far ll _ I   film)   yln ”i"‘*"lg? lil. °’_‘i"?l‘.”· ilu {lll im ` i
as dollars per acre were concerned, high yields brought. idl lllelhu) ll) hl(_€ihL€_l) we llilll llll_g_ YS)   limi u('ll({n ~
high income, and that high yields were easier to pro— )) 'ullllllg `ll l‘_'gl‘€‘ _)l€l(lh lm (mp ll“* m llllll  
(him [him high (llmllllo means still more burley tobacco of the type which
manufacturers don t want. V
Effect of pelletized ammonium nitrate
.·\bout the saute time that support prices were placed can the $l“l°ll°n be lmPl'°Y€d? ` A
under burley tobacco. a new nitrate fertilizer that was l\ll\ll0 the ¢l¤1t¤?¤§{C l0 ll\€ l>lt1`l€§’ l0l*Pl<‘ §l`<“\`l¤l2
very handy to use came onto thc- market. This was iuclttstry already is great, in terms of lost clemancl and in
pc·Ilc·ti/cd ammonium nitrate wan crxcellent fc·rtilizer. lost acreage, there seems to be at least a partial solu-
but one that was much higher in nitrogen content tion to the problem, provided that individual t‘at—atos
than thc- fc·rtili¢c·rs to which farmers had been ac- iu large numbers will face the facts scluarefy and set \
customcd. .\s a result, many farmers with whom the their aims on producing smoking-cluality tobacco in-
new fertili/c·r became popular tended to apply more stead of the highest yields they can obtain. “
than the crop nec·clc~cl~ancl probably more nitrogen lo procluce as high a proportion as possible of ,_
than thc-y realizecl they wort- applying, smoking·cluality tobacco, farmers will need to give up  
growing burley on the satue land year alter year, and ll
Result? Burley no l°“9€' the $°m€ Producl go back to a system of tobacco-sod rotations: s
.»\s a result of these changes in growing practices. .\fter a few years in grass and legumes, soil takes on
burley as procluced today is, for the most part, no a structure which is ideal for burley tobacco. This il
4 Umveasirv or Kmiructcr *
(