Tohncco Mannrinij Experiments. 060 



The figures above represent what is known as the texture of a 

 soil. A knowledge of the texture of a soil gives a fair, although by 

 no means an absolutely correct, idea of the relative amount of water 

 it will contain. The greater percentage of clay in a soil, the greater 

 amount of water as a rule the soil will hold, and it is owing to these 

 differences in water content particularly, tliat difference in mechanical 

 composition so profoundly affect the tobacco plant. But the know- 

 ledge of the texture alone of a soil is not sufficient to say decisively 

 what the relative amount of water it will contain will be, for this 

 water content is also determined by the structure of the soil, or the 

 arrangement of the soil grains. There are two factors then requiring 

 consideration. The determination of the texture is a laboratory 

 operation presenting no great difficulties. To determine the arrange- 

 ment of the soil grains is, on the contrary, not an easy task, and the 

 actual relation of the soil to water is best determined by actual 

 moisture tests carried out on the soil itself in the field. Such records 

 of the moisture content of soils in some of the principal tobacco 

 districts of America have been kept continuously for years, and an 

 extension of the system is advocated. As a result of these deter- 

 minations, the folloAving conclusions have been arrived at. They are 

 given in AMiitney's words : — 



" Northern Cigar Tobacco Soils. 



" Tobacco soils of the best grade in the Connecticut Valley main- 

 tain on an average about 7 per cent, of water throughout the season. 

 There are many soils cultivated in tobacco which average 10 or 12 per 

 cent., but these do not produce a tobacco leaf of the finest texture 

 and most desirable quality on the present market. The meadow lands 

 of the Connecticut Valley, which were formerly cultivated in tobacco 

 when a dark heavy leaf- was in demand, contain on an average from 

 20 to 28 per cent, of water. As already stated, these soils are entirely 

 unfit for the production of the grade of tobacco necessary to meet the 

 present market demands. 



''The tobacco soils of Pennsylvania are heavier than those of 

 Connecticut Valley, and maintain on an average about 18 per cent, 

 of water. 



" The soils of the tobacco district of Ohio are as heavy in texture 

 as the limestone tobacco lands of Pennsylvania. It is probable that 

 the mean water content of these soils in an average season would 

 amount to about 23 to 24 per cent, of water. The tobacco grown 

 under these conditions is used almost exclusively as a tiller leaf. 



" Soils of Manufacturing and Export Tobacco Districts. 



" The typical soils for the highest yellow tobacco of Virginia, 

 North Carolina and East Tennessee maintain on an average about 

 7 per cent, of water. Where the soils contain less than this, the leaf 

 is inclined to be thinner in texture and to have a better colour, 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 



