34 VARIETIES OF TOBACCO SEED DISTRIBUTED IN 1905-6. 



finished the plants are topped, leaving from 16 to 20 leaves on each 

 plant. From four to five weeks after topping, the tobacco is usually 

 fuU}^ ripe and the plants are cut with a tobacco cutter or butcher 

 knife. The stalks are split down the middle and strung on sticks 4^ 

 feet in length, after which they are taken to the tobacco barn and hung 

 12 inches apart on the tier poles. When fully cured, the tobacco is 

 sorted, usually into six grades, and the different grades are tied into 

 bundles of from 10 to 20 leav^es and packed for the market. 



INSECT ENEMIES. 



The general subjects of the insect enemies of tobacco and the use of 

 insecticides are considered in Farmers' Bulletin No. 120, entitled "The 

 Principal Insects Affecting the Tobacco Plant," which may be had with- 

 out cost upon application to the Secretary of Agriculture. In case 

 the, seed beds are inclosed or covered, the tobacco is largely exempt 

 from injury by such pests as flea-beetles and hornworms. The tobacco 

 stalk weevil and tobacco thrips are comparativeh^ new as pests. Two 

 accounts of the former have been published and a detailed account of 

 the latter is about to be issued by the Bureau of Entomology, to which 

 office tobacco growers are referred for specific information in regard 

 to methods of controlling insect pests. In the case of arsenicals it is 

 always desirable to use at least an equal quantity of quicklime to pre- 

 vent injury by free arsenic. 



DIRECTIONS FOB SAVING SEED. 



In all cases where new seed is taken into a locality it should be 

 thoroughly tested before growing on a large scale. This is especially 

 true of all seed imported from Cuba, Sumatra, Turke}^, or other for- 

 eign countries. The past few years have witnessed a striking illus- 

 tration of the effect of using seed direct from tropical regions, such as 

 Cuba and Sumatra, when grown in the northern tobacco districts. 

 The plants grown from this freshly imported seed broke up into man}^ 

 different types, some of which may prove valuable, but most of the 

 types are irregular and undesirable. Therefore it has been a com- 

 mon experience for growers to suffer great losses by reason of the 

 presence of these undesirable types during every season in which the 

 seed was used. This 'breaking up of type is due to the effect of 

 the change of soil and climatic conditions, resulting in striking varia- 

 tion in the plants grown from the imported seed. The variation is 

 particularly marked where southern seed is taken to northern tobacco 

 districts. 



Our experiments have shown that if the seeds from typical and 

 desirable plants in these crops are saved under bag, and thus protected 

 from cross-fertilization, the plants produced from such seed will be 

 uniformly like the parent plants. The uniformity of plants from seed 



