30 TOBACCO BREEDING. 



the leaves are too small. This defect may be remedied to a con- 

 siderable extent by selecting for seed those plants which have the 

 largest leaves, and at the same time this will result in a material 

 increase in the yield of the crop. When grown for plug wrappers, 

 the size of the leaf is as important and worthy of as careful con- 

 sideration on the part of the grower as when grown for cigar wrap- 

 pers. In the manufacture of certain brands of plug tobacco the 

 entire side of the leaf is used for one wrapper, which method is 

 often preferable to using large leaves which have to be cut into two 

 or more wrappers. Where this system is followed, leaves are de- 

 manded which are comparatively narrow and of sufficient length to 

 cover the standard size of plug with the least possible waste. 



A careful study of the size of wrapper desired by the manufac- 

 turer will give the grower a very definite idea of the most desirable 

 size of leaf to produce, and by selecting plants having this style of 

 leaf for seed the grower is enabled to produce uniformly the type of 

 tobacco which will be best adapted to his market conditions. 



In cigar-wrapper varieties of tobacco the size is of as much impor- 

 tance as the shape of the leaf. A short, wide leaf is always the kind 

 most in demand, and has the advantage of being much less suscepti- 

 ble to injury in the curing barn. The manufacturers of certain 

 brands of cigars prefer to cut only two wrappers from each leaf, 

 and for this reason demand a very small, round leaf. Most man- 

 ufacturers prefer a leaf sufficiently large for cutting two or more 

 wrappers from each side, for the reason that nearly all classes of 

 cigar-wrapper tobacco may be used more economically in this way. 

 The size of Sumatra leaf most "desired at present is about 16 inches 

 long and sufficiently wide to admit of the most economical cutting. 

 When leaves become very much larger than this there is danger of 

 coarse venation, altho this can be very largely controlled by select- 

 ing for seed only those plants which produce leaves that have small, 



fine veins. 



The question of venation is very intimately associated with both size 

 and shape of leaf, and a certain correlation seems to exist between 

 these characters. The writers have been able to produce types hav- 

 ing leaves of desirable shape and size in which the venation is fine 

 and in every way desirable. The experiments that have been con- 

 ducted with this end in view prove beyond a doubt that these im- 

 portant characters may be successfully correlated and largely con- 

 trolled by methods of selection and saving seed. 



In curing tobacco in the barn the size of the leaf has been found to 

 be an important factor. This has been clearly shown in the breeding 

 experiments in the Connecticut Valley during damp curing seasons. 

 One of the objects sought in Connecticut has been to secure a shorter 



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