d. The plant attains a large
size, and grows with a luxuriance common to all products grown in the
famous "blue grass" region.

[Footnote 65: Kentucky was originally a part of
Virginia.]

[Illustration: Kentucky tobacco plantation.]

The system adopted by the Kentucky growers is similar to that adopted
by all growers of cut tobacco, and the fine quality of Kentucky
"selections" has deservedly gained the leaf a reputation that must
place it in the front rank of American tobacco. The vast quantity
grown in the state is an evidence not only of the good quality of
Kentucky tobacco, but of the adaptation of the soil and of the method
of cultivation in use. As a cut tobacco, Kentucky-leaf is held in the
highest esteem, the exportation of the leaf to all parts of Europe
gaining for it a reputation hardly equaled by any Southern tobacco.
The system of cultivation is similar to that pursued by the Virginian,
and the same process of curing is also adopted.

The Kentucky growers generally succeed in getting a "good stand" and
when once the plants have commenced to grow they come forward with a
rapidity that is truly astonishing. The soil of Kentucky is well
adapted for the production of the largest varieties of tobacco as well
as the finest grades of cutting leaf. Much attention is paid to the
selection of soil, that the light standard of Kentucky leaf may be
further advanced. On the large plantations a vast amount of tobacco is
grown, in some instances equaling the entire product of some of the
tobacco-growing towns in the Connecticut Valley. The tobacco is packed
in hogsheads, each one containing twelve hundred pounds, the same as
in Virginia and Missouri.

The Kentucky planter prides himself on the superior quality of
tobacco, as well as his famous blooded stock. If there is anything
more remarkable than the high character of the latter, it must
certainly be the renowned plant which has given the wealthy planters
of Kentucky a national popularity among all cultivators of tobacco.
The Kentuckians are thorough in all of their methods of cultivation,
and with the first stock and tobacco farms in the country bid fair to
achieve still further honors as "tillers of the soil." Possessed of
the largest means, they have brought their farms up to a high state of
cultivation, and produce in their famous valleys the very finest of
Nature's products.

Kentucky planters are men of the largest endowments; N