1905.] IMPROVEMENT OF TOBACCO BY SEED SELECTION. 181 



IMPROVEMENT OF TOBACCO BY SEED 

 SELECTION. 



By a. D. Shamel, 



Of the United States Department of Agriculture. 



Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr. Andross 

 has made some suggestions as to the length of time it takes 

 for a man to become familiar with the various processes of 

 growing tobacco. I am afraid that you will think that my ex- 

 perience in this matter is rather limited, which it is ; but the 

 thing I wish to present this morning is the question of seed 

 selection and breeding, which I believe to be new, and I think 

 that the result of the experience of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture obtained in this valley during the past year will perhaps 

 furnish some suggestions to you for the improvement of this 

 crop. 



In all varieties of tobacco there are certain strains of seed 

 which are looked upon by growers and buyers as possessing 

 some particular merit and special value. Many of these strains 

 have been produced by growers observing some peculiar or 

 striking plant during the cultivation of the crop, and saving 

 the seed from it for future planting. In fact, most of the 

 varieties now under cultivation are the result of such accidental 

 selection of seed plants. The improvements in yield and 

 quaHty of the crop, made by such selections of valuable seed 

 plants, indicates that much greater and more important results 

 can be secured by applying the principles of plant breeding 

 in a careful and systematic manner to the improvement of the 

 tobacco crop. There is no general farm crop grown under 

 such an intensive and costly method of culture as certain classes 

 of tobacco, and by reason of the importance of soil, climate, 

 and other influences on the character of the crop, the importance 

 of seed selection and breeding has been neglected and not 

 given much consideration. While in some districts one hun- 

 dred dollars worth of fertilizer is used per acre, and other 

 methods of culture are similarly developed, the methods of 

 saving seed are the same as those introduced by the pioneer 

 tobacco growers. The writer's experience with the breeding 

 of the several varieties of wrappers growai in the Connecticut 

 Valley has shown that the improvement in yield and quality of 



