124 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



The varieties which have succeeded best both as to yield and time of ripening 

 uie Canadian, Connecticut Seed Leaf, Fryor Yellow and White Burley. 



HINTS ON TOBACCO CULTUEB. 



For the benefit of those who are unacquainted with the tobacco plant and its 

 culture, the following brief outline of the course usually adopted in the management 

 of this crop is appended. 



That group of plants known to Botanists as members of the genus Nicotiana is 

 a large one, and includes many useful decorative plants .as well as the tobacco of com- 

 merce. The genus was named after Jean Nicot, who introduced tobacco into France 

 in the latter half of the 16th century. Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana Persica 

 with their varieties include most of the cultivated tobaccos. 



The development of this industry has proceeded with great rapidity. With the 

 French colonists of the Detroit Eiver region and of the province of Quebec came 

 seed of this plant to Eastern North America. In the eastern portions of this pro- 

 vince long continued selection of home-grown seed has given rise to varieties 

 peculiar to the region. These are usually smaller leaved hardy varieties that do not 

 attain the height of Southern forms. The yield, however, is usually very satisfactory, 

 and with the exercise of skill in harvesting and curing, there is no doubt that an 

 easily marketable product of good quality can be produced. 



Soil. 



A soil which is deep, friable, rich, dry and warm, and one which may be easily 

 traversed by the numerous tender fibrous roots of this plant, is advisable in this 

 climate in order to hasten early maturity. A sheltered situation is also very 

 desirable. Tobacco is peculiarly a farmer's crop inasmuch as there are few farms 

 which do not afford an acre or half an acre of the above description. 



Manures. 



Analyses of the stems and leaves of tobacco reveal the fact that this plant 

 draws heavily on the potash of the soil, so that in growing it a proper rotation of 

 crops is desirable, and a careful return to the soil of those elementsof fertility which 

 have been withdrawn is of course necessary. 



The following analyses are taken from the Eeport of the Massachusetts Experi- 

 ment Station for 1892. 



The above figures show the principal elements extracted from the soil in grow- 

 ing this crop, and indicate the desirability of returning them if the best results are 

 looked for. 



It should not be forgotten that the fertilizing constituents are nearly equally 

 divided between the stalk and the leafy matter, and therefore, the utilization of the 

 stalks for fertilizing purposes is an important feature in the economical culture of 

 this plant. It has been estimated by Mr. Loomis of the Connecticut Experiment 

 Station (Eeport for 1887, p. 84), that "the stalks contain about as much nitrogen 

 and potash as would be furnished by an application of 70 pounds muriate of potash 



