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Tobacco in the wild

I was traveling through some back country roads in TN this past weekend and saw tobacco in the fields and hung in barns for the first time in a long time. Growing up, it was common place to see fields of yellow leaves in the fall.

Even saw a half dozen barns curing some leaves.

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Getting to see less and less of it here in Georgia. In my area, 20 years ago, it was all over the place. Everyone grew a Virginia strain made for cigarettes and sold it to RJ Reynolds who had a place in town. I'd occasionally go out into the fields of a farmer I knew well and pull some leaves. I'd let them dry in my laundry room and either attempt to roll them into cigars or crumble them into a pipe. Never had much luck because I was too impatient and it would make a pretty bitter smoke. None of the guys I know grow it now. The RJ Reynolds place is still there but I never see cars around it. Not sure if it was government restrictions or too labor intensive that caused everyone to quit growing it.
 
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