iy2 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



has furnished to the world two of the greatest curses known 

 to mankind : tobacco and potatoes. Whether he would be in 

 the minority or not, were a vote to be taken on this subject 

 today, it is impossible to say, but strange it is that both the 

 plants named belong to the same order. It is also said that 

 the devil sowed the seed. Without vouching for the authen- 

 ticity of this statement we would say that if he did he con- 

 ferred a great favor on this valley with its small farms, many 

 of which are unsuitable for general farming, and on the growers 

 of 1904 in particular. As I remarked, it is uncertain at just 

 what period tobacco first obtained a foothold in the Connecticut 

 valley, from which it spread to adjacent parts also, but it was 

 somewhere about the time of the Stewarts' reign in England. 



At first it was only used for smoking, but its cultivation 

 continued, mainly in Virginia, but in a small way in Connecti- 

 cut, until 1835. Then it received a great impetus in this 

 state, particularly in the vicinity of Hartford. It was then 

 that it became popular as a field crop, or money crop. The 

 civil war also marked a large increase; and since that time its 

 progress has been steadily increasing, and it is now conceded 

 that Connecticut leaf is the standard of the world for the pur- 

 pose of wrapping cigars, or for blending with the king of all 

 tobaccos, the finer grades of Cuba. 



From the time of its introduction to our soil many and 

 varied methods have been applied to its cultivation, only the 

 latest and most popular of which I shall speak. Particularly 

 are there many and widely dififerent varieties of the weed, as 

 it is called, many of them the result of hybridization, and of 

 purely local repute. But there are in reality but two distinc- 

 tive varieties under cultivation, under general conditions in 

 this state, of which the mechanical processes employed in pro- 

 ducing a crop differ but little. These are designated as broad 

 leaf and Havana seed. Of the former there are many sub- 

 varieties. The Havana probably comes nearer to a standard 

 of purity, as regards original stock, than any other. Soils that 

 will successfully grow one will grow the other. Methods that 

 are applied to one can be applied to the other also. Many 

 whims, fancies, and notions that had their day have now passed 

 into oblivion as exploded theories or non-essentials. 



The first thing necessary to consider in starting to grow 

 a crop is the seed bed. Some warm, sheltered spot is selected 



