Indiana Kite-Foot: @Vincefromindiana

[Vincefromindiana]

Hi All.
I am brand new to the forum here,but I want to say that I appreciate everyone's effort on here!
I live in Putnam County Indiana and came across an old thread that mentions an old local tobacco grown near here in Owen County called Indiana Kite-Foot that was also known as Spangled tobacco at the turn of the century. I have been dabbling with different heirloom varieties here to see which grows well in my area, and I am curious if anyone has ever grown this tobacco more recently, or if someone may have some seeds to this very old variety.
I know it's a shot in the dark, but I thought I would throw this out here since no one here has ever even heard of Indiana Kite-Foot tobacco. Thank you for any type of response. Go Hoosiers.
Vincefromindiana

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Be sure to read the New Growers' FAQ, linked in the menu bar. You may wish to scan the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, also linked in the menu bar.

Neither "Kite-Foot" nor "spangled" appear in the ARS-GRIN tobacco accessions database.

If you live in Indiana, then every variety of tobacco will grow well. What use (pipe, cigars, cigarettes, smokeless, etc.) are you hoping to grow for?

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Welcome to FTT

pier

 

[Vincefromindiana]

Thank you for the reply. It's pretty much an extinct variety. Just thought it would be worth mentioning in case anyone has grown it due to the Indiana connection.

 

[Vincefromindiana]

It is for cigars. I have tried Bahia, Habano 2000, Pennsylvania Broadleaf, and Connecticut Broadleaf here in West Central Indiana. The Connecticut does well. The others not as well. Next season I'll try Ohio Dutch, Havana 142, and Pennsylvania Red and give the Connecticut an extra year of aging after fermenting and see how it goes.

 

[crasch]

U.S. Census Office. 10th Census, 1880. Report on the Productions of Agriculture as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Embracing General Statistics and Monographs. Vol. 3. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. In the section "Report on the Culture and Curing of Tobacco in the United States", Chapter 6 is entitled "Culture and Curing of Tobacco in Indiana". Page 40:

The Kite-Foot tobacco, grown in small quantities by Germans in Clarke and Owen counties, deserves mention on account of the peculiar method of handling. It has a broad, short leaf, cures up a brownish color, with yellowish spots, and resembles the spangled tobacco of the eastern Ohio district. It has small fiber and stretchy leaves, and is cured with fire. In harvesting, the leaves are gathered from the stalks, as is done in eastern Ohio and in Florida. It is used in this country for making very common cigars.

 

[Vincefromindiana]

Thank you so much for finding this and where it came from!! I saw that it was fire cured back in the day. It made me sad that this leaf may no longer be in existence.

 

[johnny108]

Next questions: what varieties were grown for budget cigars in Ohio at the time, and/or
has a “spangled” appearance when cured…?
Possibly another surviving strain will be close?

 

[crasch]

From the same source, chapter on the "Spangled District" in Ohio:

About the year 1875 the White Burley was introduced into this district, and it has extended until it has become the principal variety grown in Belmont and in the counties immediately surrounding. A bout 300 cases of Connecticut Seed-leaf are produced annually, but the culture of this variety is not extending rapidly. On the Muskingum the Peartree tobacco is principally grown. There are three sub-varieties of this, namely: the White Stem, the Yellow Stem, and the Large Peartree.
[…]
It is estimated that about one-third of the crop of the district is air-cured, and the proportion is regularly increasing every year with the introduction of the White Burley. About half of this variety is now cured fire, and a fine, bright leaf is made; but the use of fire unfits it for American consumption.
[...]
Dealers assort it into all the grades mentioned, and it is by them pressed into hogsheads and shipped to Baltimore, and thence distributed to markets in the Old World.
[…]
The bulk of the tobacco grown in this district is used for smoking, while a small quantity raised from White Burley seed and air-cured is manufactured into chewing-tobacco in the United States, and a few hogsheads are occasionally used for cigar wrappers.

 

[Vincefromindiana]

You are correct! I looked into yellow spangled tobacco from the eastern Ohio export district and if any survived and this is what it has:

No, the original yellow spangle tobacco grown in the eastern Ohio export district did not survive into modern commercial production, and its specific seeds are considered lost.

It's closest relatives would be Ohio Dutch or Little Dutch
It's very interesting and helps solve the Kite-Foot puzzle!
Thank you for the update!!

 

[deluxestogie]

And, of course, the "Dutch" term in both these varieties are American colonial distortions of "deutsch", meaning, German (e.g. Pennsylvania Dutch).

Bob