1901-Shade Grown tobacco is introduced in South Windsor
The importation into the United States of fine Sumatra tobacco in the 1890s posed a serious threat to United States growers as cigar manufacturers preferred it to the American leaf. The Department of Agriculture and the Connecticut Experiment Station tested a number of growing methods and discovered in 1900 that the Sumatra plant could be grown in Connecticut under shade with excellent results. The Secretary of Agriculture reported to Congress that year that “The leaf produced has been so fine that the New York tobacco men say that it cannot be told from the imported Sumatra leaf. They predict, as a result of this work, a complete revolution of the tobacco business in the Connecticut Valley.” In 1901, Marcus L. Floyd, a government expert, grew the first shade tobacco in South Windsor on Rye Street.
Pictured left, a section of 10 acre Shade Grown tobacco, Miller & Shepard, probably early 1900s.
Image: J. E. Shepard Collection, 1998.32.525