Tobaccoland USA (1949)

finally our formed gracious way of life is the Bro the crop most peculiarly which early is set found the Indian pipes the aromatic annual called tobacco well down and Westward into Missouri and is divided into three major regions is the so-called brighta the Carolinas Georgia and Florida tobacco types are determined by different s oil rainfall and temperature type most widely growning the largest annual income is called bright tobacco so name color of its cured Leaf bright tobacco is heat treated on racks in a curing Barn this process gives it a mildness and flavor that provides the base for a wide range of different smoking [Music] Blends from Maryland comes another major strain of tobacco grown in just five counties of the state in blending it serves a double purpose it has a flavor found in no other tobacco and it burns more [Music] freely Missouri Kentucky Tennessee and Ohio grow the third major strain of tobacco Burley famous the world over for its fine smoking qualities the Burly Leaf is more like Maryland than bright and like Maryland is cured simply by hanging it in well ventilated barns prized for the spice it imparts to the blend is the highly aromatic small leafed strain of tobacco known as Turkish millions of pounds of Turkish are imported for Chesterfield from the near East every year grown primarily for its seed the flax fiber is brought by train loads to be processed in aa's new streamline Paper Mill mixed with pure Cold Mountain Water the flax is shredded and pounded to a creamy pulp it is passed through mixers and condensers until it is ready to be fine meshed screen where the water is drawn off and the pulp passed on to be formed into cigarette paper mild and miles of [Music] it the leaves must have their moisture content adjusted to a uniform level so the racks are passed into a chamber where an exact amount of M of finest Western fur into it head is pressed about half a ton of graded Leaf bright Burly or Maryland [Music] on the outskirts of Durham liot and Meyers vast warehouses stretch out like a city within a city endless is the parade of trucks bringing Hogs heads of tobacco to be [Music] aged in the warehouses the Hogs heads are stacked up according to an elaborate plan of rotation and on each is fastened a pedigree of the tobacco that it contains where it was grown what type it is and when it was bought for many to understand tobacco is a business and as a way of life one must enter a home which tobacco is built and where an entire family's life moves with the growth cycle of the crop of the many farmers in tobacco land Claude Whitehead of chattam Virginia is one of the most Progressive the tobacco cycle begins in January and plans for the Year's operations absorb the interest of the whole Whitehead family winter is waning and the time has come to get ready the tobacco seed bed tobacco seed is almost microscopic about the size of the poppy seeds you get on Bakery rolls the farmer mixes the seed with neutral soil to ensure an even distribution in the sewing his seed has been selected after many years of experimentation and Improvement not only by the planter but by government agencies the three great types of American Tobacco Maryland Burley and bright were each developed regionally by Natural Factors but variations within each type have been scientifically adapted to help the farmer get the best and the most abundant yield from his particular [Music] acreage [Music] while the seeds are germinating there will be plenty of time for many small spring chores around the [Music] farm it is a great day for the farmer when the seed beds protective covering can be drawn back to inspect the first leaflets of this New Year's tobacco crop but before the seedlings can be transplanted to the fields many more warm and sunny days must [Music] pass [Music] [Applause] while the fruit trees flower all of tobacco lands Farmers prepare their fields to receive the tobacco seedlings a farmer usually drives his own tractor to plow his own acres for like all Farmers the tobacco planter loves the soil then twoo tobacco is a crop requiring infinite pains Farmers like to say that it takes 13 months a year to raise good tobacco months of planning and preparation months of careful attention to the growing crop dawn of the first trans planting day comes as a zero hour for the tobacco farmer he will be up with the sun and will breakfast heartily for before nightfall tens of thousands of his tobacco seedlings must be taken from the seed bed and set out to grow at stake in this operation will be farmer Whitehead's biggest cash crop and the bulk of his income for the year ahead all hands are needed in the fields and at the seed beds on this day to lift the baby plants gently out of the earth and carry them to the planting fields to set out his tobacco seedlings precisely and individually and neat rows and at exact intervals uses an ingenious device which although slower than automatic transplanters enables him to see that every one of his plants is healthy and gets a proper start in life on this day or on days near it the entire Southland will be stitched across with a delicate green Petty [Music] point now a prayer for rain tens of thousands of thirsty shoots need [Music] [Applause] [Music] water again the Southlands mountain ranges come to the aid of the farmer in lifting The Damp winds from the sea to be cooled and condensed into the blessing of [Music] rain [Applause] [Music] more spring days pass the critical period is over tobacco seedlings have struck root and are growing sturdily until they get Too Tall they can be cultivated by Power Machinery carefully steered along the contoured roads the Earth must not be allowed to harden and Cake around the young Roots weeds must be discouraged and for this work there is no labor saving substitute for the good old oldfashioned [Music] hole even in a mechanical age no one who rests a good life from the soil can avoid diligent work nor would they want to while the men are busy with tobacco mother Whitehead has some rows of her own to hold like everything else about the Whitehead Farm Mrs Whitehead's department is Thoroughly equipped to make the most of Nature's Bounty time was when folks only caned their vegetables or laid them away to dry Mrs Whitehead can take her vegetables Garden Fresh and deep freeze them so that the whiteheads can enjoy fresh vegetables all next winter Farm Life need not be as tiresome as it used to be a farmer's lady need not be a drudge between household chores there is time for many more pleasant things time for gracious living time for a flower garden time for the problems of the young [Music] like many of the ladies in tobacco land Mrs Whitehead takes proper pride in her grounds and planting and this year her Garden Club holds its Midsummer show at her [Music] home and for the young vacation is not all hoing and [Music] weeding meanwhile the southern Sun Shines the tobacco leaves fill out and the summer is a long lazy growing time frequently the county agent comes by to check with farmer Whitehead on the progress of with his tobacco crop the plants are strong and healthy how many pounds does it look like to the acre because of their years of experience farmer Whitehead and the agent can quite accurately answer that question far ahead of picking time granted of course normal weather for the remainder of the growing season another turning point in the tobacco cycle comes when the stalk is ready to blossom into a white flower which if allowed to bloom would make tobacco land even more picturesque but instead the budding stock is broken off to direct the plant's full strength into growing richer and more luxuriant leaves this operation is called topping and each single plant of Mr Whitehead's many thousands must be dealt with individually while the top tobacco is getting its final growth there is time to harvest other crops for the tobacco farmer of today however prosperous is not a one crop operator wheat he may raise and other grains for the livestock will be a crop of hay not just stacked up but properly bailed Mr Whitehead's hay crop includes some fine Alfalfa dairy products form a considerable portion of tobac land's output though tobacco yields the most money still things can happen to a tobacco crop and Thrifty men like farmer Whitehead use their Acres wisely but tobacco and everything that affects it Remains the central interest the pot of gold at the Rainbow's End is a barn full of Rich yellow tobacco leaves by Early Autumn farmer Whitehead's crop of bright tobacco is ready to be picked tobacco men call it cropping and a curious array of mule drawn sleds appears in the fields to fetch the CR crop the ripest leaves those at the bottom of the stock are picked first again the work is all done by hand in several stages as the upper leaves mature in their turn the magnitude of this task can be appreciated when you figure that there will be about 7800 tobacco plants to each acre and about 20 leaves to be picked from each plant thus only 10 acres of tobacco mean about one and 1/2 million leaves to be picked and handled separately and handled not just once but several times [Music] over the first handling is to string the leaves on Long sticks to get them ready for the curing barn now man takes over from nature takes the lush green leaf and ripens it into the softest gold no other crop harvested by man is more tend L handled instead of being left to Caprices of the weather it will have its moisture content properly [Music] controlled from the field the laden sticks are taken to the curing Barn there the sticks are racked up across the rafters row upon row right up to the roof these curing barns 20 ft square and 20 ft high are the special Mark of the tobacco farm wherever you go in the South they used to be built of logs ched up with mud or plaster the barns of modern tobacco farmers are of a more efficient modern structure so built as to provide an ample even flow of heat through every part of the green crop the heat required to cure bright tobacco used to be supplied only by smoldering log fires which had to be tended night and day for four or 5 days when Mr Whitehead's Barn is full he simply turns on and adjusts an oil [Music] heater now the barns are full and the fields are empty it's abundance grew even with automatic equipment the curing of tobacco cannot be hurried four or 5 days is still the time it takes to change the leaf from green to Gold but now the process can be checked accurately and as it progresses the Barn's temperature is alternately raised and lowered between 80 and 180° Fahrenheit this makes the tobacco leaf breathe and a cross-section of a typical curing Barn shows that all the leaves are allowed to breathe freely and cure [Music] evenly after it is cured the tobacco must be graded Leaf by leaf with practiced eye farmer Whitehead and his help ERS sort out and segregate the different grades of leaf this scene is being duplicated at this season all over tobaco land to you and me these leaves all look pretty much alike but in the market there are many gradations determined by color size texture Aroma and other factors the ability to classify and evaluate cured tobacco at a touch or at a glance is one of those Arts that men acquire only through long years of experience it is one of the oldest and subtlest skills in all the folkways of America after the leaves are graded they are tied to make handling more convenient into what are called hands of tobacco a dozen or so leaves laid together and knotted around at the stalk End by another [Music] Lea now the crop is ready for market and when the owner judges his time is ripe he loads up his truck for the first of several trips to the auction [Music] Warehouse presently all the highways are alive with truckloads of tobacco heading into towns where auction sales are held [Music] Market time in each section of tobacco land lasts from 8 to 12 weeks it begins in July in Georgia and South Carolina and ends months later in Kentucky competition is Keen among the many warehouses in Market towns the farmers bring their crops to the trading floors in Shallow baskets each basket is carefully weighed and checked [Music] tobacco selling has developed a system and a ritual all its own the baskets of tobacco are laid out in Long rows each basket marked with the owner's name and the certified weight down the rows moves the auctioneer followed by the buyers bids are made with rapid and subtle hand signals the auctioneer Sees In A Flash whose bid is high and the sails proceed with amazing [Music] speed the auctioneer's clerk drops a purchase slip on each pile as it is sold the farmer picks up his slip and takes it to the warehouse office for redemption in Hard Cash a man with money in his pocket is ready to have fun so Market time is also County Fair time in tobacco land the whole family goes to town to hear the music and ride the rides to gaze and gossip and see the sights [Music] [Applause] [Music] but the county fair is not for amusement only here the progressive farmer can inspect and order the latest in farm equipment [Music] at the fair farm products are exhibited and awarded prizes for tobacco land can grow the best of everything it needs and plenty of it here Farmers meet their friends from far and near and The Perennial topics of Farm Life are discussed all day how did you make out this year what prizes did you win mighty fine tobacco you've got there brother Whitehead surprising to the uninitiated is the number of refining and finishing processes to which it has been found necessary to subject even the best tobacco that money can buy prize-winning quality tobacco the choicest most fragrant leaves grown in the Southland are what liot and Meers Tobacco Company purchases for Chesterfield every year after their long Aging in the warehouse the Hogs heads of prime Leaf are taken back to the factory and knocked open the Hogs heads are mobilized at the factory in a certain but somewhat complex order corresponding to the requirements of the secret Chesterfield blending formula so many hogs heads of bright tobacco so many hog heads of Maryland and so many of Burley as it comes from the Aging Warehouse the tobacco is too stiff and dry to be handled easily so it is passed into a steam chamber where it remains for about 45 minutes to become more pliable when it leaves the steam chamber the tobacco is still somewhat compressed the leaves must be pulled apart and fluffed out now it is passed into a second chamber where it is conditioned again intensively in smaller portions before anything further is done the tobacco leaves must now be rid of their tough fibrous stems and this whole building where the tobacco is first received at the factory is called the stammer quick fingered girls untie the pliant hands of tobacco and feed the loose leaves into a machine which pulls the fine tender body away from the tough stem and veins in the center the stems are recovered and taken away to be processed into other products by chemical companies miles of endless belting and other miles of gravity shoots and air pressure pipelines provide Motive Power for the Tobacco on its Journey Through The Factory after being stemmed the tobacco is reconditioned to get it ready for blending which takes place in big bins fitted with mechanical mixers first several types of bright tobacco are mixed together tossed and Blended like a tempting Leaf salad different types of burle are also Blended in a separate operation before being blended with the brights the brights Maryland and the bures are then brought together in other blending machines large revolving drums not unlike the drums used to shake up lottery tickets but here there will be no drawing of winning or losing numbers all the contents will come out on The Winning Side in a delicate uniform blend to which at the last moment just the right amount of aromatic Turkish is added the finished blend is now pressed into a solid cake ready for slicing by Keen rotary blades these knives whirl around like an airplane propeller then out onto the conveyor belt pours the fluffy Harvest of Blended tobaccos for your [Music] cigarette in the cigarette making room miles of paper ribbon from the acoua mountain Mill are racing along ready to be rolled around the fragrant tobacco a cigarette is fashioned in a twinkling each machine makes 1200 cigarettes a minute or 20 a package full every second and there are hundreds of these machines turning out billions of Chester Fields each month when the cigarettes arrive at the packaging machines they are not wrapped up as many people suppose but are inserted 20 at a time into packages cleverly fabricated before the cigarettes arrive the package bearing the portrait of be each stamp yields the federal treasury 7 cents the stamps required for just little money can buy to keep Chesterfield tobacco at its best comes last of all and the red cellophane pull tab to make the package easy to open and so into cartons go the finest cigarettes your money can buy ready to travel to the ends of the Earth to wherever man and as autumn waines in the South land the tobac cycle has been completed now the tobacco farmer can take his ease proud that on him depends a major American industry an industry which grows and prospers in the new tobacco land [Music] us Chester Field [Music]