Smith Farms, 2458 Kirksey Road, Murray, Kentucky, is a modern tobacco, wheat, corn and soybean
farming operation, consisting of approximately 1,200 acres, 300 owned by Smith Farms, 900 acres that are rented. The multiple
plots of land are not contiguous.
Smith Farms has a 250-year family history. Ten
generations of Smiths live or are buried within a twelve-mile
radius of the farm.
Smith Farms today employs four full-time and
eight seasonal employees.
The past five generations of Smiths have also been
business owners or educators, in addition to growing crops.
Most of the tobacco produced at Smith Farms is
dark fired, and is used for chewing tobacco and snuff.
Learn more about Smith Farms:
Smithfarmtours.com
Tidbits About Tobacco
According to a Huron Indian
myth, in ancient times when the land was barren and the people were starving,
the Great Spirit sent forth a woman to save humanity. As she traveled over the
world, everywhere her right hand touched the soil, there grew potatoes. And
everywhere her left hand touched the soil, there grew corn. And when the world
was rich and fertile, she sat down and rested. When she arose, there grew
tobacco. (Tobacco.org)
In 1904, a New York judge sent a woman to jail for thirty
days for smoking in front of her children. (Tobacco.org)
In 1904, Kentucky tobacco farmers formed a violent
“protective association” to protect themselves against tactics of large
manufacturers, mostly the Duke conglomerate. (Tobacco.org)
By 1906, the “Night Riders” had formed. A group of angry
farmers donned hoods and rode out on horses to terrorize other farmers who sold
tobacco to the price-gouging American Tobacco Company. They burned barns and
fields and even lynched people. They destroyed tobacco factories, crops, and
murdered other planters. They were disbanded in 1915. (Tobacco.org)
There
are more than sixty species of tobacco, although two are primarily grown today.
(EHow.com)
Tobacco
farming was well underway in America by 1612. By 1622, many farmers were growing tobacco,
because they could make good money selling it to England. (EHow.com)
The seed
of a tobacco plant is very small. A one-ounce sample contains about 300,000
seeds. (“History of Tobacco,” Boston University
Medical Center)
Chewing
tobacco became quite popular with cowboys of the American West. (“History of
Tobacco,” Boston University Medical Center)