136 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD; 



more elastic texture than Havana seed and made better wrapper^. The results 

 were even more striking in the crosses in which Broadleaf was used as the mother' 

 parent. 



The selection of tobacco seed plants, A. I>. Siiamkl (Connecticut Slate Sta. Bid. 

 150, pp. IS, pis. '>).— A somewhat fuller discussion of this subject by the author has 

 been noted from another source (see above). This bulletin treats of the possibility 

 of improving the quality of tobacco, the lack of uniformity of plants in the average 

 tobacco crop, self-fertilization and cross-fertilization in the plant, advantages of using 

 seed from self-fertilized Mowers, and methods of selecting plants and securing self- 

 fertilization. 



In all the crops grown from imported seed a large proportion of abnormal plants, 

 in type as well as maturity, were observed. This was especially true of the crops 

 from freshly imported Cuban seed, in a field of which the author found about 33 per 

 cent of the plants to he of freak type. The variation in type of the Broadleaf Havana 

 seed and of so-called native varieties was less marked, but the individual variation 

 in the number, shape, and size of seeds, the number of suckers, the number of seed 

 pods, and other characters was nearly as great as among plants grown from imported 

 seed. 



It was observed that some plants had nearly double the number of leaves found 

 on average plants, and many individuals produced rounded leaves, while others bore 

 long, narrow, and pointed leaves. Some plants suckered profusely, while in others 

 this tendency was comparatively weak. Again, plants were observed with from 150 

 to 200 seed pods, while others bore only from 25 to 100. In maturity of leaf a differ- 

 ence of 2 weeks was noted between individual plants, and it was found that the 

 leaves of plants in the same field varied in body, stretch or elasticity, color or appear- 

 ance, and other characteristics. 



In the discussion of self-fertilization and cross-fertilization of tobacco the flowers 

 of the plant are described and the natural method of fertilization is pointed out. 

 For 2 years experiments were made with Connecticut Havana, Broadleaf, Sumatra, 

 and Cuban types grown under cloth and in the open, and on a commercial scale, to 

 determine the relative value of seed produced by exclusive self-fertilization and of 

 seed produced by natural cross-fertilization. The results show that the plants from 

 self-fertilized seed produced exactly the character of the mother plant. The indi- 

 vidual character, such as shape and color of leaves, number of leaves and suckers, 

 body or texture, size of veins, time of maturity, and all other observed characters 

 were uniformly transmitted. 



In a field of Connecticut Sumatra several hundred plants of different types were 

 selected and seed exclusively from self-fertilization was secured. From this seed a 

 type was produced with leaves which would not burn, and with it another type 

 tested in the same way which had the most perfect burn of any kind of tobacco. In 

 one instance imported seed produced plants which were attacked by a fungus root 

 disease and destroyed, together with certain individuals which were resistant or 

 immune and produced ripe tobacco of excellent quality. Some of the plants were 

 only partially resistant, and seeds saved from these and compared with the seed 

 obtained from the resistant or immune plants when sown resulted in poor plants, 

 showing the characteristics of the diseased ones in root, stalk, and leaves, while the 

 plants from the other seed, although sown on the seed beds where the disease had 

 occurred, produced perfectly resistant individuals. 



These cases are cited by the author to show the transmitting power of the seed of 

 tobacco from self-fertilized flowers and to point out its practical importance. 



Experiments in growing- Cuban seed tobacco in Texas, G. T. McNess and 

 W. M. Hinson ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Soils Bui. ?7, pp. 44).— The history of experi- 

 ments in growing Cuban seed tobacco in Texas is given, the relation of climate and 



