An old trial of growing Turkish tobacco in the US

[istanbulin]

I found a clipping of a newspaper (The Modesto Bee). Date is Nov 8 1952. News is about a Turkish immigrant trying to grow Turkish tobaccos in CA for a while. I think he did not succeed

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...fFJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4x0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6820,1572549

And another clipping from The Evening Record, Ellensburg, Washington. Date is April 21 1932. L&M just discovered to blend Turkish tobaccos with Americans.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...dMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uYQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6682,3708404

There are a lot of interesting old news, I was surprised when I saw Trotsky in the headline of The Evening Record.

 

[leverhead]

In the beginning of the second article, they mention that the area where the tobacco is grown only gets about 60% of the rainfall that the American growing region gets. Do you think selection for smaller water needs could account for the differences between Turkish and American tobaccos?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I believe the difference between Turkish tobacco and American tobaccos is not due to one single factor but rather several, these being: (1) the cultivar of tobacco, (2) amount of water, (3) nutrient availability and (4) planting distances. Turkish tobacco typically gets considerably less water, less nutirents (they don't fertilize) and are planted much closer than American tobacco. The lack of water as well as the close planting would also negatively impact the availability of nutrient uptake by the plant.

 

[leverhead]

In the spring I'm planning to grow Turkish/Oriental varieties in a raised bed at the house, the soil there is terrible, so I'll start from scratch. After the Virginias are done behind the shop, I'm thinking about a second planting of Turkish there. Late season here is much dryer and hot. Taking what I can learn from the raised bed, I should be able to narrow down the varieties I want to grow there.

 

[andrewislord]

I tried to find some information on tobacco grown in California a while ago, and came up with nothing. Except some for some kind of pharmaceutical research.
I assumed it never happened here because the expense of land and labor. And the water. It only rained one time on my tobacco this year, and it never got the soil under the leaves wet. Fresno is about 250 miles away from me though. They grow a lot grapes around there, and further north. I think they get a lot more water than me though.

I don't see why tobacco wouldn't grow great in California. Everything else does.

 

[leverhead]

Try this

http://archive.org/details/turkishtobaccocu366clar

 

[andrewislord]

Thanks. I'll have to read that. I've skipped through it a little. I see that northern California seems to do better, and the Napa Valley seems to be the best, with southern California yielding only "fair grades of tobacco". I wonder why? I'll have to read on.
Maybe mostly the curing?