1036 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the heavier soils and on the "meadow lands" of the Connecticut Valley. 

 These meadow lands differ from the light tobacco soils now cultivated 

 principally in containing a larger proportion of silt, which enabled them 

 to maintain a water content of from 23 to 27 per cent. 



The tobacco lands of Pennsylvania, which are also devoted mainly 

 to growing cigar tobacco, are confined chiefly to a comparatively narrow 

 belt along the Susquehanna River and to the limestone soils "typically 

 developed in York and Lancaster counties." The amount of clay in 

 these soils varies from 13.8 per cent in the river soils and shaly lime- 

 stone soils to 29.27 per cent in the pure limestone soils. They main- 

 tain on an average about 18 per cent of water, the amount rising to 22 

 to 23 per cent in the heaviest limestone soils. The best wrapper leaf 

 is produced on the lighter soils. 



"The cigar tobacco district of Ohio is situated in the southwestern 

 part of the State and includes the country bordering on the Miami 

 Eiver, Montgomery, Darke, and Preble counties forming the center of 

 the district. . . . The soil is derived from drift material which has 

 been worked over and modified by subsequent action of water." A typ- 

 ical soil from this region was found to contain 44.01 per cent of silt and 

 27.52 per cent of clay. It thus appears that the soils of this district 

 are as heavy in texture as the limestone soils of Pennsylvania. Dur- 

 ing the season of 1897 they maintained a moisture content of a little 

 more than 27 per cent. "It is probable that the mean water content 

 of these soils in an average season would amount to about 23 or 24 per 

 cent of water. The tobacco grown under these conditions is used almost 

 exclusively as a filler leaf. . . . 



"The Wisconsin tobacco is used both as a wrapper and filler leaf to 

 some extent." It is grown on soils a typical sample of which was 

 found to contain 36.05 per cent of silt and 22.7G per cent of clay. No 

 determinations of the moisture content of these soils have been made. 



The Cuban type of cigar wrapper and filler and some Sumatra tobacco 

 are grown in Florida, especially in western Florida, although a new 

 tobacco district is being opened up in the region of Fort Mead, on the 

 peninsula. The tobacco lands of western Florida are "a light loam 

 about 12 in. deep, resting on a, heavy red clay, which is naturally well 

 drained. The hammock soil of Fort Mead is, on the other hand, a very 

 light, sandy soil, extending down to a very considerable depth." The 

 red subsoils of western Florida contain about 30 per cent of clay, but 

 maintain on an average only about 8 to 10 per cent of moisture. The 

 hammock lands "contain on an average less than 4 per cent of clay and 

 less than 6 per cent of silt, fine silt, and clay. They contain over 50 

 per cent of fine sand, so that they are relatively rather coarse and open. 

 Notwithstanding this open texture . . . [they] contain on an aver- 

 age 8 per cent of water throughout the season, which is about as much 

 as the tobacco lands of the Connecticut Valley contain. This water 

 content, moreover, is for some reason more uniform, and the laud can go 



