Hayes: Tobacco Mutations 



/D 



the 190cS Cuban seed were carefully 

 counted for leaf number, the method 

 being to count the leaves on the main 

 stem beginning at the fourth leaf from 

 the base and counting to the leaf below 

 the bald sucker at the top, the bald 

 sucker being the first sucker which does 

 not produce true leaves. This method 

 gives approximately the number of 

 leaves which are usually harvested. In 

 1910 the plant which had the largest 

 leaf number was self-pollinated by 

 covering the seed-head with a manila 

 paper bag. This method of selection for 

 high leaf number has been continued 

 from 1910 to 1914, inclusive, each year 

 a plant with high leaf number being 

 selected as a parent for the following 

 generation. The total variation for 

 leaf number was from 14 to 25 leaves 

 per plant. The mean for 1910 was 19.9 

 leaves per plant, and in 1914 a mean of 

 19.9 leaves was also obtained. A total 

 of 832 plants was counted, the smallest 

 number of plants grown in any genera- 

 tion being 124 and the largest number 

 210. The experiment has therefore 

 given negative results and serves to 

 illustrate the impossibility in this variety 

 of increasing the average leaf number 

 by the continuous selection of fluctua- 

 tions. 



NEW TYPE INCREASED. 



In 1912 the Windsor Tobacco Grow- 

 ers' Corporation grew about 100 acres 

 of shade tobacco from seed saved under 

 the cheesecloth cover in 1910. The 

 general appearance of the crop was 

 uniform, and until late in the season no 

 variations of importance were noted. 

 During the clearing of the field by 

 cutting down the stalks, one plant after 

 being cut was observed to have a large 

 number of unpicked leaves and no 

 blossom. This plant was brought to 

 the attention of the plantation manager, 

 J. B. Stewart, who, after systematic 

 search, found two others of similar 

 habit. One of these, on being trans- 

 planted and taken to the greenhouse 

 of the Connecticut Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station in New Haven, survived 

 and bore 72 leaves on the main stem, 

 blossoming about January first. Con- 

 siderable seed was saved from this plant. 



In 1913 about one-third of an acre 

 of this new type was grown at the 

 Windsor Tobacco Corporation's plan- 

 tation. The plants were of uniform 

 appearance and differed frorh the normal 

 Cuban in having leaves of a somewhat 

 lighter green shade, in a partial absence 

 of basal suckers, and in a practically 

 indeterminate growth, whereas the nor- 

 mal Cuban variety bears a terminal 

 inflorescence after producing from 14 to 

 25 leaves on the main stem. Twenty 

 plants were taken to the Connecticut 

 Experiment Station greenhouse in the 

 fall of 1913. These commenced to 

 blossom about the first of November, 

 the range of leaf counts being from 62 

 to 80 leaves per plant. 



About 25 acres of the new tyjjc, 

 which has been called the "Stewart 

 Cuban," have been grown in the valley 

 this last season, and all bred true to the 

 new habit of growth. 



The third of an acre of Stewart 

 Cuban which was grown at the Windsor 

 Tobacco Corporation's plantation in 



1913 was fermented, assorted, and com- 

 pared with the Hazel wood Cuban type. 

 The quality of leaf seemed as good as 

 that of the normal type, and an in- 

 creased yield per acre of approximately 

 90% was obtained. The value of the 



1914 crop will also be determined. As 

 the final determination of the value of a 

 new type of tobacco depends on its con- 

 formity to the trade ideals, it is too 

 soon to make any definite statements 

 about the value of this new type. 



In order to obtain seed of the Stewart 

 Cuban it is necessary to transplant a 

 few plants to the greenhouse and 

 thus prolong their period of growth. 

 Plants thus transplanted blossomed 

 about November first, producing an 

 average of 70 leaves on the main stem. 

 As the tobacco seed-beds are generally 

 started about the first of April, it was 

 thought that sowing seed in the green- 

 house the last of December and grow- 

 ing the plants in pots until the last of 

 May and then transplanting them out 

 of "doors would give them sufficient 

 start so that they would blossom before 

 frost in the Fall. Accordingly, on 

 December 28, 1913. some seed of the 

 Stewart Cuban was sown in sterilized 



