l88 SOUTH AFRICAN TOBACCOS. 



The locality, climate and the soil in which the crop is to 

 grow will decide the class of tobacco to be cultivated. The type 

 or variety, however, is dependent on these conditions, and also 

 more or less on individual notions or desires of the planter, 

 knowledge of the kind grown, peculiarities for working the soil, 

 etc. 



All crops are true to seed; grades are the result of soil 

 differences, peculiarities of climate, of planting and cultivation 

 methods, and of systematic and intelligent fertilisi;ig. As the 

 market calls for these distinct grades in tobacco this point be- 

 comes a very important one for the planter to observe. 



I. Nature of Soil.- — As to the naiture of the soil, it is an 

 established fact that soil rich in humus and poor in chlorides 

 yields a much better quality of tobacco than a soil which contains 

 no humus and is full of chlorides, such as the brack soils of 

 South Africa are. 



Tbe inorganic constituents which are absolutely necessary to 

 all plants, and consequently also the tobacco, are: Potash, lime, 

 magnesia, oxide of iron, phosphoric oxide, sulphuric oxide, 

 ammonia, and nitric oxide. Magnesia and oxide of iron are 

 invariably present in all soils in sufficient quantity. 



The fitness of the soil for tobacco culture depends, however, 

 not only upon the presence of a sufficiency of the indispensable 

 constituents in a proper condition of chemical combination, but 

 also on the absence of any excess of such injurious compounds 

 as the chlorides, which readily enter into the system of the plant, 

 deteriorating the quality of the leaf. Growing crops are, per- 

 haps, as much dependent on the physical condition as upon the 

 chemical composition of the soils in which they grow, and the 

 texture of the soil may be accepted as possessing great influence 

 on the quality of the tobacco produced thereon. 



The time of harvesting and the manner of curing have much 

 to do with fixing types or grades of tobacco, and even more 

 important is the intelligent cultivation of the plant and its proper 

 fertilising. 



The peculiar adaptation and value of tobacco leaf for cigar 

 purposes being due to the texture and aroma of the leaf, certain 

 fertilisers must be rigorously discarded from the soils from 

 which superior tobacco is expected. Rank, coarse, organic 

 manures and all mineral fertilisers (such as chloride of potassium 

 and kainit ) containing chlorine must be especially avoided. 

 Mineral fertilisers, however, of proper composition have proved 

 capable of producing the very highest type of cigar tobacco leaf. 



Nitrogen and potash are the main plant food requirements 

 of this crop, phosphoric acid being of relatively little importance 

 in its growth. The burning quality of the leaf, on which so 

 much of its value depends, is largely controlled by the relation 

 between the properties of the nitrogen and potash supplied to 

 the crop. Tobacco requires heavy applications of fertilisers ; one 



