TOBACCO. 177 



said, " there is force enough in this ground to carry them 

 along without topping, and you will have more weight." I 

 heai-d to them, and let my men top high. I am satislied it 

 was a mistake, and those who are stripping the tobacco for 

 me say that that tobacco is not as good in leaf and the top 

 leaves are not really A No. 1, which they should be on any 

 plant which has been properly raised. That is an important 

 point. You have to decide upon a certain medium betwixt 

 the bottom and top of the plant, for the better leaves of your 

 tobacco. The lower three or four leaves I find worthless. 

 They are all mangled, the worms get on them from the ground, 

 and bore holes through them. Since I adopted this practice 

 I have talked with a Virginia gentleman, who told me that it 

 is the universal practice in Virginia to take off the lower 

 leaves when their plants are growing, and they grow for plug 

 and smoking purposes. 



When the plant gets to a certain point and the suckers be- 

 gin to show, we have to go through the field every few days 

 and take off the suckers; and if there are any secondary 

 shoots from the roof, those are to be taken off. Sometimes a 

 plant will divide at the bottom, and these shoots have to be 

 pulled up. We pull them up and snap off the suckers, for 

 they break very easily. The plants must be kept clear of 

 them, and that throws the juice into the leaves, and they grow 

 up much larger and longer. 



It is almost impossible to say how many leaves should be 

 left on the plant. I should say from eight to ten in the most 

 fertile fields, and less in a crop that does not grow heavily. 



Question. — Do you wait until the plant is fairly in blossom 

 before you top? 



Dr. Riggs. — No, sir. There will be occasionally a stalk a 

 little ahead of the rest that will show a blossom. We let 

 them be until tlie blossom-buds round out and begin to appear. 

 We are not particular whether we wait until they fully appear 

 or not. When we go into a field to top it the man walks be- 

 tween two rows, and he knows, by a glance of the eye, when 

 a row wants topping all the way through, and takes hold and 

 snaps off the top and throws it down, first on one side "Uid 



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