296 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



tobacco industry is based on a number of characteristic types, each 

 requirin*? special methods of production, the demonstrations must be 

 based on local experiment. To meet tliis requirement field stations 

 are maintained in the principal tobacco districts and the experimental 

 data obtained are utilized in conducting the demonstrations illustra- 

 tive of the most profitable methods of tobacco culture. 



As a counterpart to the breeding investigations which have been 

 in progress for several years, experiments have been taken up this 

 year with pure strains of several characteristic varieties of tobacco 

 for the purpose of making a systematic study of the effects of environ- 

 ment on the habits of growth of the plant and on the quality of the 

 cured leaf. 



INVESTIGATIONS IN CIGAR-TOBACCO DISTRICTS. 



Work in the Connecticut Valley. — Cooperative studies with 

 growers as to the value of the steam sterilization of seed beds in con- 

 trolling calico or the mosaic disease have been continued, as have also 

 the tests with dilferent sources of phosphorus in increasing the yield 

 and reducing rust in the broadleaf section. The special feature of 

 the investigations in tobacco curing in this section this ,year is a study 

 of the effect of different temperatures on the color and other qualities 

 of the cured leaf. 



Work in New York. — Experiments in the most profitable use of 

 fertilizers and the best systems of crop rotation adapted to tobacco 

 culture are in progress in both the Onondaga and the Big Flats dis- 

 tricts. The Haynes type of filler tobacco as improved by the bureau 

 is proving very satisfactory in the Onondaga district. 



Work in Pennsylvania and Ohio. — The work in Pennsjdvania, 

 Avhich at present is confined to Lancaster County, consists in the im- 

 provement in yield and in uniformity of the filler types by breeding 

 and selection. A detailed study with respect to yield is being made 

 of selected strains of Pennsylvania Broadleaf. In Ohio cooperative 

 tests with groAvers are being made of several promising hybrids 

 adapted for filler purposes and these are being introduced to the 

 trade. 



Work in Texas. — The demonstrations of the best methods of ferti- 

 lizing and the best systems of crop rotation adapted to the growing 

 of filler tobacco from Cuban seed which were begun last year at 

 Nacogdoches in cooperation with the State experiment station are 

 being continued this season. Comparative tests of several desirable 

 varieties of filler tobacco are also being made. 



INVESTIGATIONS IN MANUFACTURING AND EXPORT TOBACCO DISTRICTS. 



Investigations are in progress this year in Maryland, in the Burley 

 and Hopkinsville districts of Kentucky, in the sun-cured, the fire- 

 cured, and the flue-cured districts of Virginia, in the " old belt " of 

 North Carolina, and in the " ncAv belt" of North Carolina and South 

 Carolina. The average yield of tobacco per acre, owing primarily 

 to depletion of the supply of humus in the soils, is far less than it 

 should be in most of these districts. The problem of introducing 

 legumes into tobacco rotations, which offers some difficuliy because 

 of the effect of these crops on the quality of the tobacco, is receiving 

 special attention this year in Maryland and the Carolinas. 



