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SUPPLEMENT TO THE PORT PERRY STAR, THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1952 START ZND TOBACCO HARVEST 'ON FARM NEAR LAKE SCUGOG Two and one half ounces of seed, as fine as pepper, produced enough tobaeco plants .to cover 60 acres of land. This fact was learned from Kenneth Pew, -a young Viewlake tobacco grower who is now starting to harvest his second crop. While Mr. Pew originally, planted 60 acres of land to 'tobacco he will only har- vest 35 acres because of .the hazards attending tobacco growing. One-of the greatest hazards stages of growing is wind and. this year the wind blew frequently and strong. The result: Many seedlings were blown right out of the soil and had to be either replaced or the soil planted to some other crop. And so it came about that Farmer Pew's 60] acres of tobacco were reduced to 35. "One of the first requirements be- fore growing tobacco can be enter- tained is the right kind of- soil. It must be sandy -- the finer and deep- er the sand the better. On this * Viewlake farm the .sandy topsoil is i _ derland and the lake have a tendency | estimated to run down to 18 inches. Then there is the matter of location to be considered. The land must lie in an area not subject to early autumn frosts. Mr. Pew explains, that his land is fairly well situated in this re- spect because it is something of a plateau, 'bordered on the one hand by Lake Scugog. and on the other by swamp. This low-lying swamp bor- to draw off the colder air from the higher land, he has feind, . "Only a light frost" "i+ -fioeded when the harvest season gets underway to ruin the quality of the crop and this makes harvest time an anxious time, * "The crop is planted around the 24th of May and is allowed to ma- ture until - mid-August. Shortly be- fore the harvest, the process of "topping the: crop is carried out. This is the "work of snapping off "the multi-blossom flower tops of the plant and it -is done by hand -- a --tadious jeb usually carried out-under a broiling sun. When the harvest commences, the bottom leaves are. gathered first. These are stacked neatly on a horge- drawn sled affair with sides on it. As each load comes into the kilns, it is tied three leaves to a bunch, 32 bunches to a stick and made ready for hanging in the kiln, Seven girls work at top speed to prepare the tobacco for curing and at night the men hang the sticks in the kiln, tier upon tier until it is full. There are five kilns on the Pew farm and this process continues until all are full or the crop harvested. Each of these kilps-is heated "by | pipes running the length of it which in the early are connected with an oil burner. Curing begins with the "yellowing" process. © This is achieved by starting' with a temperature about ten degrees above the outside reading. As it gets to the proper shade, the heat is in- creased to dry it and set the colour. Before a kiln of tobacco is completely cured the temperature sometimes reaches 180 degeeés fahrenheit. + The curing 'process takes about four to six days depending on a. number' of cicumstances known only to an exper- ienced grower or cureman, . It is a hazardous time for the grower -be- cause fire is a constant threat. All during -the curing stage, the cureman must be on the job 24 hours a day. Usually these curemen are brought to Canadian growers' farms from North Carolina or Virginia and are long experienced in the trade. Many-of them have their own tobacco farms and are avajlable because of the earlier harvest periods they enjoy. When the crop is cured it is taken to the barn and packed-down-in piles where it is graded according to colour. Grading of the crop is done by repre- sentatives of the different "tobacco buying companies. There are seven firms now processing in Canada with the nearest processing plant at Delhi in Western Ontario. 'How much is a good erop of tobacco worth? Well, Mr. Pew explained, this varies but last year the harvest from 30 acres of tobacco had a gross value of $15,600. This grower figures that this revenue didn't show him much profit because it was his first year in business for himself. He had to build and equip his kilns, prepare the soil and do a dozen other things before he could get under steam. Going back to the business of planting the crop,.it might be inter- esting to note that an entire field is not devoted to tobacco. The help hold the Soil. After harvest the main crop is broken at intervals with catches of rye. This is done to protect the seedlings from wind and business of "holding the soil" is a main part of late season work. This is done by chopping and spreading the stocks which are worked into the ground. This is followed by a plant- ing of rye which is up before winter comes. Land on which tohueds § is grown one year must be rested for two years following, Mr. Pew points out. This "lis necessary because tobacco is a hard crop on the land. It has a terrific root system which reaches from row to row and uses up vast quantities of soil minerals, With each acre of tobacco planted, from 1200 to 1300 Ibs, of fertilizer is worked into the ground. - ising Planting tobacco is a donb ati of man .and machine power. The planter is ridden by two men on seats close to the ground and as it moves along these men place the plants while the machine feeds water and] fertilizer into the land at the same. time. Perhaps a common fallacy attached to tobacco growers is that they have all the tobacco they require for their personal use without the. nuisance of government taxes and so forth. Mr. Pew says there are two reasons for this not being the case: (1) it is 'against the law, (2) unprocessed to- bacco is unappealing. Mr. Pew, his wife and little girl moved into the Viewlake area from Norfolk . County, where his father is a grower. He hopes to make a suc- cess_of his_venture in growing fine tobacco and he's keeping his fingers crossed for the next five or six weeks until this year's harvest is completed. Meanwhile he is a mighty busy 'man and his well-kept farm is evidence: of his industriousness." -. - ou There are Just three other ford in the 'Viewlake area devoted to tobacco growing at the moment but extensive plantations are. more numerous in the raptyimal and Port Hope regions. --Lindsay Post MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANAAS ada with the largest output of sugar and highest per cent. sugar in beets. Beet sugar output in 1951 was 93,-| 900,000 pounds, : x * * Canada's national income and the. value 'of goods and services during 1951 'totalled $21,200,000,000, a record. J. Comments from Other Editors PORT PERRY STUDENTS PASS 1009 UP. "SCHOOL. JET Principal J. L. Crane of Port Perry High .School is. quite justifiably in. proud position by an announcement in last week's Port Perry Star that all students. were successful in all' Upper School papers written, for a 100% record on the year. also states over 25% sccured First Class Honour marks. There were eight successful . stu- dents. way to the full use of the academic or vocational system 'of student handling, ds Port Perry years ago established a full-scale vocatiqnal wing, with - several departments of shop-work; Economics department, It may be assumed that all non-academic type students .were steered into taking a. vocational training early in the High School "career, and graduated along educational aptitude; while those with high academic quotient were success- fully brought along to very high at- mental Upper School exams, --Sutton Reporter Looking Back 15 Years FROM PORT PERRY STAR of Thursday, August 285, 1937: --Lorne-Beare; star goalie from- Port colours of the 'Atlantic City Sea Gulls the Eastern Hockey League. Re- garded as one of the top amateur net- minders, Beare held Boston Bruins scoreless for 40 minutes in a practice session last year - with the XN H.L. team. - At a wicelli of the Liberals hth in timated that he would not be a can- didate for the forthcoming provincial election. Among the speakers were: 'W.-H. Gifford; J. p. ~Mangan.-- The 1937 Upper School results for Port. Perry school show Vivian Wal- lace as top student-with five first class honours and two seconds. Among the The report - That result rather points the - vocational lines at the limit of their" tainment in their writing of Depart. Perry has been signed to: wear the - 'Whitby, W. E. N. Sinclair, M.L.A., in- students were: J. Aldred, A. Baird, B.- Cawker, J. Hopkins, P, Jackson, Mil- 4; dred Lakey;, M. Stone, and M. Taylor, W. H. Moore, M.P,, F. M. Chapinan, : several full-scale branches of Homi Ly RIAA