WATER SOILS. 1037 



for some time without rain with no serious injury to the crops. Never- 

 theless the planters have been greatly benefited by judicious systems 

 of irrigation through overhead sprays. By thus keeping the plants 

 continually and rapidly growing, the crop will mature in 45 days from 

 the time the plants are set out." 



The soils of the cigar tobacco districts which are being developed in 

 Texas and southern California have not been thoroughly studied, but 

 the analyses which have been made indicate that the soils "agree very 

 well with the finer grades of cigar tobacco lands. The general cli- 

 matic conditions, however, are different." . . . 



"The brighi yellow tobacco used for cigarettes, plug wrappers, fillers, and cut- 

 ting is grown mainly in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and East Ten- 

 nessee. . . . The typical bright tobacco land consists of a loose, porous sand, 

 containing not more than 8 or 10 per cent of clay. This sand must be at least 12 

 in. deep. Many areas are cultivated in which the sand extends to a depth of 5 or 

 10 ft. or more, and a very tine quality of tobacco is produced." 



The average of analyses of 44 samples of bright tobacco soils shows 

 that they contain about 8 per cent of clay. They maintain on an aver- 

 age about 7 per cent of water. 



"Where the soils contain less than this the leaf is inclined to be liner in texture 

 and to have a better color, but the yield per acre is small, and the most economical 

 conditions on the whole are maintained by those soils having from 7 to 8 per cent of 

 clay and maintaining on an average about 7 or 8 per cent of water. As the soil 

 becomes heavier in texture and the amount of water increases other grades and 

 types of tobacco are produced. ... As the relation of the physical properties of 

 the soil is not thoroughly understood or practically recognized by the growers, a 

 large amount of land is now cultivated in bright tobacco which is not suited to this 

 plant and which does not produce a good grade. On the other hand, there are large 

 areas not at present under cultivation which could be developed into veiy line 

 tobacco lauds. The typical bright tobacco soil is of little value for any of the staple 

 farm crops, although, when suitably located near transportation lines, it is admirably 

 adapted to the production of early vegetables, watermelons, and sweet potatoes."' 



The manufacturing tobacco of Virginia and North Carolina is grown 

 principally on the red clay soils located mainly on the gabbro, gneiss, 

 and Lafayette clays. The subsoils of these areas contain from 30 to 50 

 per cent of clay, and although no observations have been made on the 

 moisture content of these soils it is probable from observations made 

 on adjacent soils that the mean water content is not far from 20 or 22 

 per cent. Since the introduction of White Burley tobacco the cultiva- 

 tion of the heavier types of tobacco has noticeably decreased in Vir- 

 ginia and North Carolina. "The industry is confined now principally 

 to small areas along rivers, streams, or creeks, and upon recent deposits 

 which can not well be referred to any of the older geological formations 

 and which can not well be examined without a detailed examination of 

 the larger part of these States. . . . 



"The White Burley tobacco is confined to the well-marked type of 

 soil of the Lower Silurian limestone in central and north central Ken- 



