lo Dec, 1910.] 



Tobacco Culture. 



743 



Tobacco Soils, Edi, Victoeia. 



Insoluble matter 



Soluble silica 



Potash . . 



Soda . . 



Lime . . 



Magnesia 



Manganese oxide 



Ferric oxide 



Alumina 



Phosphorus pentoxide 



Sulphur trioxide 



Carbon dioxide . . 



Water in organic matter 



Nitrogen percent, in soil 



Humus 



Byrne. 



76 



14 



Howard. Hall. Swan 

 Bros. 



% 



79-16 



-20 



-36 



-11 



-52 



-45 



-09 



4-20 



3-40 



•35 



•10 



•01 



16 



18 



68 



11 



83 



-32 

 -20 

 •34 

 -20 

 ■22 

 -28 

 -13 

 -96 

 -25 

 •18 

 •09 

 •05 

 •69 

 •11 

 •80 



84 



Average. 



75 



12 



•63 

 •22 

 •45 

 •19 

 •09 

 •40 

 •11 

 -05 

 -80 

 -30 

 -09 

 -05 

 -29 

 •19 

 •05 



A comparison of the average figures of the important plant foods in the six 

 fields with the two American will disclose percentages in the Edi soils practically 

 equalling those of the Kentucky, and considerably surpassing the North Carolina. 

 It is possible that an addition 'of lime to some of the Edi soils might prove of 

 advantage, but in all other respects the figures would appear to indicate that the 

 use of fertilizers will probably prove of little effect. 



The Mechanic.\l Analysis of Edi Tobacco Soils. 



As already stated, it is in difference of mechanical rather than chemical com- 

 position that we find the most potent influence operating on the physiology of the 

 tobacco plant. The figures giving the results of the mechanical analysis of the 

 six samples, taken from different localities in the Edi district, will give an idea 

 of the general characteristics of the soils of the district in this respect. These 

 percentages, however, have to be considered in conjunction with the meteorological 

 conditions prevailing in the various localities. 



The figures above represent what is known as the texture of a soil. A know- 

 ledge 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 per- 

 centage 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, that diflerence 

 in mechanical composition so profoundly affects 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 arrangement 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 determinations, the following conclusions have been arrived at. They are 

 given in Whitney's words : — 



" Northern Cigar Tobacco Soils. 



"Tobacco soils of the best grade in the Connecticut Valley maintain 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. 



2 c 2 



