Rekindled: The U.S. Bureau of Soils and Nacogdoches’ Cigar Industry (Part 2)

The Mystery Behind East Texas Tobacco's Quality

Even with these results though, due to the methods in which the Texas tobacco collection had been made, it was impossible for The Bureau to conclusively determine what the leaf quality was the result of. What was it about the East Texas tobacco that made it superior in quality and taste above everything else currently in the domestic market?

Was it the particular soil in East Texas upon which the leaf had been grown? The kind of seed they used? A special system of fertilization? Or was it special care and skill in their handling and curing of the tobacco? And possibly most importantly, could the results be consistently duplicated?

As the Bureau contemplated these questions, the amount of tobacco acreage that was planted in East Texas, declined significantly. In the beginning, it is possible the decline correlated with the halting of tariffs on Cuban tobacco products by the U.S. government during the Spanish American War of 1898. When the Bureau of Soils revisited the tobacco industry in East Texas in 1901, they found that the amount of acres of tobacco planted had dropped by half, just in the two years from 1899 to 1901.

Declining Acreage: A Setback for East Texas Tobacco

At the beginning of 1902, records indicate that two modest cigar factories were in operation, one of which was the one that H.S. Edler opened in 1897. The interest in tobacco farming was fizzling out and it was obvious that East Texas farmers had become discouraged. In addition to a lack of knowledge on the proper cultivation methods to use, the tobacco trading market itself was a massive obstacle. It was a peculiar and complicated beast to them, unlike other trading markets they had experienced for other crops, and many tobacco farmers struggled trying to navigate it at all.

So with all this in mind, the U.S. Bureau of Soils made the decision to step in and help, and with a completed 1901 survey of the area in hand, descended on East Texas. They were going to help revive the floundering Texas tobacco market. They studied the region and estimated that 425,000 acres of the greater East Texas area could grow high-quality tobacco. With an ample area of soil suitable for growing cigar-leaf tobacco, and a plan to educate and assist local farmers on proper cultivation methods, they concluded that any deficiencies they previously observed in the leaf could easily be eliminated.

They completed an additional survey in 1902 which identified that the majority of soil in East Texas was a variety known as Orangeburg Fine Sandy Loam. This was great news. They already knew that this type of soil, as well as orangeburg clay, made good tobacco growing soil. Then they conducted a specific series of tobacco experiments on the East Texas Orangeburg soils, around the towns of Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Woodville, Crockett, and Giddings.

Mapping Nacogdoches’ Tobacco Future

The experiments determined that the leaf grown in the orangeburg soils, or clays, had a much finer aroma than if it had been grown on any other type of soil in the area. So armed with this information, they mapped out a 100 square mile area around Nacogdoches, and after further examination, identified that we had 16,320 acres of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam soil, and 16,704 acres of Orangeburg clay.

The Bureau decided then that it was time to narrow their focus and made the decision to focus their efforts on Nacogdoches County and Taylor County, with a higher priority given to Nacogdoches County, as it had the larger area of soil that they were interested in.

So, in the spring of 1903, the U.S. Bureau of Soils’, moved its headquarters from Willis to Nacogdoches, and established branch stations at Lufkin, which is in Angelina County, and in Woodville, which is located in Taylor County. Cooperative experiments were then entered into between the Bureau and the Nacogdoches Tobacco Association, in which 6 acres of tobacco were planted at Nacogdoches (4 acres on the Orangeburg sand and 2 acres on the Orangeburg clay).

Collaboration for Success: Bureau and Nacogdoches Tobacco Association

The Bureau had dispatched an entire team to East Texas to examine the tobacco further, which the following newspaper clipping snippet recorded:

“The assignments of tobacco parties for the work of the several stations under the direction of the Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department of Agriculture, during the field season of 1904, are as follows: HINSON Party. -- W. M. Hinson, with J. B. Stewart, W. J. Wood, Otto Olson, H. Weinberg, and J. D. Butler, as assistants, will have the charge of the tobacco work in Texas, with headquarters at Nacogdoches, Giddings and Crockett. J. B. Stewart will be assigned to the Gidding station, and W. J. Woods to the Crockett station, the rest of the party to make their headquarters at Nacogdoches. The experiments are to further demonstrate whether a desirable filler tobacco can be grown on Texas soils, containing the necessary Cuban aroma.”

The results of these experiments encouraged everyone involved. Finally, they had the evidence to prove that they had discovered a cigar filler leaf tobacco of superior quality that could be grown domestically. And the results could be duplicated over and over. East Texas had officially produced the finest filler leaf that the United States had ever seen. The attention was on East Texas, especially on Nacogdoches.

Nacogdoches Gains National Attention for Superior Tobacco

When the 1903 official federal study was published, Nacogdoches saw interests in our area skyrocket. And for good reason. The study clearly stated that Nacogdoches soil was “identical with that of Cuba, and other countries which grow the best qualities of the aromatic cigar tobacco.” We also had similar average temperatures and humidities as Cuba. We couldn’t have asked for a better review or result than that.

An advertising booklet for the county proclaimed:

"Eminent experts in the East unite in saying: ‘…we find that there are other soils in East Texas far superior to the tobacco growing districts of Florida, Connecticut and Cuba. This tobacco can be raised in Texas under more favorable conditions than in either of the above mentioned States owing to the fertility of the soil, ... and the long growing season.’"

Endorsements and Rising Demand: East Texas Tobacco on the Map

In March 1904, an article was published in The New England Tobacco Grower, Vol. V. No. 1., that was titled, “Booming Tobacco in Texas: Soil Found to be Identical With That of Cuba”.

It stated, "The counties of Nacogdoches, Angelina, Cherokee, Augustine, Houston, Trinity, Walker, Montgomery, Tyler, Liberty, Lee and Lavaca in Texas, all have within their boundaries what is known as the orangeburg or led sandyloam soil, suitable for raising the finest tobacco. An analysis made by the government found it to be identical with that of the Vuelta Abajo district of Cuba.

This soil is underlaid by greenmarl, which is a fine fertilizer. This tobacco growing is confined almost entirely to East Texas. About 700 to 1,000 acres have been planted for tobacco this year. The Florida, Havana and Sumatra Company, William Tausig, President, and the Texas-Cuba Company, A. Webb, President, L.H. Shelfer Superintendent, are putting in quite extensive plants, and are contracting with Nacogdoches Company farmers to take the 1904 crops as soon as stripped at 15 cents per pound.

The Lavaca Company, F. Simpson, President, Wm. Balkeslee, Secretary, and C.J. Hudgius, Manager, are putting in extensive crops in Lavaca county. The Florida, Havana and Sumatra Company has 10 acres under shade and about 50 acres in the open. The Texas-Cuba Tobacco Company has 40 acres under shale and are setting out and hoping to have 200 acres in the open. The Lavaca Company has five acres under shade and 35 acres in the open. And there will be from 500 to 800 acres in the open planted by individual farmers in East Texas.

Both Havana and Sumatra will be raised under shade. All the open field tobacco is from Cuban seed furnished by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which sent men to Cuba especially to get pure seed. Both the wrapper and the filler are hard to distinguish from the genuine Havana. There were only 15,000 pounds raised in 1903, nearly all of which was bought by the Florida, Havana and Sumatra Company. This tobacco was raised under government supervision and cured by them.

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