194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



many times. I attribute it to a sort of jealousy which seems 

 to exist in this branch of business. 



Mr. Hale. Another phase of the question I would like to 

 inquire about, because it is something that has been asked me. 

 Those of us who hope to succeed on the poor, worn out soils 

 of New England find that we have to grow a good many green 

 crops to maintain the fertility of our land and increase the 

 fertility at certain seasons of the year, particularly in the 

 winter. Now, I have observed all along the Connecticut val- 

 ley, from Hartford down to Glastonbury, that the majority 

 of the tobacco lands are barren. I have also observed that 

 the tobacco growers plough their land in the fall, so that it 

 shall be more bare. I have asked myself why it was over 

 and over again, and I should like to be informed why they take 

 that course. Why do the tobacco growers put so much money 

 into fertilizers in order to keep the fertility of their tobacco 

 lands up, and then in the winter allow those lands to be bare, 

 and allow the very elements that they want to save and use 

 in their crop to escape? Why don't they set a trap and 

 hold it? In other words, why don't they grow some green 

 crop on those lands in the fall and winter? Is there some 

 reason that is peculiar to the tobacco plant, that makes that 

 necessary? Is that the reason, or is it because they don't 

 think enough about it, or don't care enough about it, or is it 

 because the tobacco business is so profitable that they can 

 let at least a hundred thousand dollars worth of plant food go 

 to waste? 



Mr. Andross. It is a lack of knowledge. They believe 

 that anything growing on the lands, after the crop is removed, 

 even weeds, affects the tobacco. They believe in that kind of 

 a doctrine, and most of them live up to it without any kind of a 

 demonstration that it is true. I know that many plough the 

 land immediately after the crop is taken off. No one can 

 give you a very good answer to that question, as to why it is 

 done, except that it keeps out the weeds. That is about all 



