412 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



MEETINGS OF SECTIONS. 



SECTION OX AGKICULTUKE AND CHEMISTKY. 



One session of this section was given up to discussions of investiga- 

 tions on tobacco, another to the energy of foods and feeding stuffs, 

 and the third to miscellaneous papers. E. H. Jenkins presented a 

 paper on Methods of experimenting with cigar wrapper leaf tobacco, 

 in whicli he discussed the conditions which should govern in coopera- 

 tive experiments, the relations of the station with the experimenter, 

 etc. The station should, if possible, own the land where the experi- 

 ment is made and alwa3's the crop, since the interests of the grower and 

 the experimenter are not the same. All the operations in the field 

 should be in charge of an experienced man, as no general directions 

 can be given in advance. Comparisons should be made onl}- after the 

 fermentation has taken place, that is, in the finished product, and the 

 product should be judged by dealers in the leaf, as the ''quality" is 

 subject to the whim of the cigar maker and the trade. Quality was 

 defined as the "fitness to meet the present tastes of the manufacturer 

 of cigars — nothing else." In conclusion, the work of the Connecticut 

 State Station covering a number of A'ears in cooperation with the Con- 

 necticut Tobacco Experiment Company and later in cooperation with 

 the Division of Soils of this Department, was reviewed and the 

 methods followed detailed. 



The growing and curing of Burlej'^ tobacco was described in a paper 

 by M. A. Scovell, the practice of the most intelligent growers in Ken- 

 tucky and lower Ohio being given. The origin of the White Burley 

 by selection from the Red, and its characteristics and curing were 

 described. It is not fermented and is used mostly in the manufacture 

 of chewing tobacco. It can absorb as high as -10 per cent of its weight 

 in sugar and flavoring extracts, which adapts it to making plug tobacco. 

 "Perhaps the soil has the greatest influence of any one thing in 

 determining the qualit}^ of [Burley] tobacco, especially its color," 

 although the season has a marked influence on the quality. There 

 was believed to be a good field for station work in experimenting with 

 fertilizers for Burley tobacco; curing, and selection to get a light leaf. 



Milton Whitney described the work of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture with tobacco, mentioning briefly the lines of work which 

 have been taken up. In cooperation with the Connecticut State Sta- 

 tion Sumatra tobacco has ]>een grown under shade, which, it was stated, 

 experts can not distinguish from the imported leaf.^ It was believed 

 to be possible on the best tobacco soils to grow Sumatra which will be 



^ The crop has since been sold at an average price .of 71 cents per pound, including 

 tops, butts, and trash. As high as $1.25 per pound was received for some of the 

 unsorted product. 



