194 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



kinds of tobacco. The best kind that I know of is the kind 

 ■where the leaves are set near together on the stalk, not very 

 long but wide, and tapering to a point, and the stems growing 

 out at right angles with the main stem. The stems are very- 

 fine, so that when you turn the leaves over on the back those 

 little stems that run up through will lie almost fiat with the 

 leaf; and when you stretch out the leaf the back of it will be 

 almost as smooth as the front. That is what I call a fine 

 leaf. 



Mr. Yeomans. What would be the effect of leaving the 

 sprouts ? * I understand that in Northampton and Hatfield 

 they have tried that somewhat, thinking that the tendency 

 was to make a finer leaf, and perhaps get something more 

 nearly like the Connecticut leaf. 



Mr. Allen. That would be the result, no doubt. It 

 would take the substance from the leaf and it would be fine. 

 But I do not think that is necessary. In fact, it would de- 

 tract largely from the weight of the leaf, and from the quali- 

 ty of the leaf, I think, ultimately. 



The suckering should be done early, before they are large, 

 and then they can be taken off without any trouble. Last 

 year the tobacco, as a general thing, got a very rapid growth, 

 the suckers came out very rapidly, and the tobacco was so 

 large that it was almost impossible to get into it. My men 

 went down and began to sucker it, but after they had been 

 through two or three rows I found they were destroying 

 so much of the tobacco, that I told them to stop at once. 

 Tliis year I had to leave the suckers on a whole field. It was 

 a complete mass of blossoms before I could get at it. It was 

 a necessity ; I should not have done it if I could have got 

 into the field. 



Question. Would it not be worth while to set the rows 

 farther apart ? 



Mr. Allen. Ordinarilv we do not have that trouble. Tliis 

 year we had an extraordinary growth. I think perhaps it 

 would be well enough to put them far enough apart to avoid 

 that difficulty. 



Question. In hoeing your tobacco, how do you manage 

 it ? Do you put any earth around the plants ? 



