844 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. DoC. 



we go along and break out that seed head as high as you want your 

 plant to be and with as many leaves on as you want to it. That is 

 called topping. Sometimes some of the sections will top teu leave<s, 

 some twelve leaves some more. As soon as the plant is topped it 

 developes what is called suckers. In the axil of each leaf there 

 developes a branch same as that developed, first above. This appears 

 first at the top leaves and then on down the stalk. If you leave 

 these grow they will grow up and develop seed and the branch 

 growing up in the axil of the leaf would naturally take the strength 

 away from the leaf, so the grower keeps that broken out. After the 

 upper four are broken out about four more come in and that way on 

 to the bottom of the stalk. By keeping these broken out you drive 

 all the strength of the plant into the leaves and get a larger, finer, 

 softer leaf. If you leave the suckers grow it will be the same as 

 not topping the plant, because the strength of. the plant will go into 

 the suckers and the leaf will sutfer and get hard and woody. Oft- 

 times the weather has a great deal to do with the time the plants 

 seed. If we have a spell of dry weather then the plants go to seed 

 a good deal sooner, it is natural they should, too. You qut a good 

 plant under adverse conditions and it will try to develop seed and 

 reproduce itself before the strength is goue. 



The better the grower cultivates the soil the better he conserves 

 the moisture and the better the growing conditions are for the 

 plants. During the seasons of 1908 and 1909 I saw a great deal of 

 difference on ditferent farms here in the county. One farmer when 

 the dry weather set in stops cultivating. Another grower kept on 

 cultivating. The man that stopped was losing moisture because 

 the ground became hard and baked. And the man who kept on culti- 

 vating kept a mulch on top and prevented the sun from evaporating 

 the moisture. The season has a great deal to do with the size and 

 body of the leaf. During a very dry season your leaf will be shorter 

 and a great deal heavier. During a wet season it grows more 

 rapidly and grows finer. The quicker the plant grows the better the 

 leaf. In Connecticut and Florida they use a great deal of commercial 

 fertilizer and grow more rapidly in order to get a thin leaf. If a get 

 dry weather it makes a heavy leaf. We don't want too thin a leaf, 

 though it not advisable to get too heavy. We want a medium weight 

 leaf and good size. 



During all this time or almost any stage of tobacco there is a 

 disease that is liable to set in and, by the way, there is no section 

 of the cotmtry in this world that does not have this disease. It is 

 a disease called Calico, or technically known as mosaic. If it at- 

 tacks the plants when young the plants become rusty and go to 

 pieces. When it attacks the plant almost grown the upper leaves 

 get it, but the lower leaves do not develop it and the upper leaves 

 show very little sign of it after cured. It does not do much damage 

 after the plant is grown up, but when it attacks the young plants it 

 will do damage. Just what the cause of this disease is we do not 

 know, but it compares very favorably with the "yellows" in peaches. 



About the last of August or first of September the tobacco begins 

 to ripen. Then it is ready to put away. When it stops in its growth 

 it is said to be ripe and there are several simple tests which will 

 tell when this stage is. The leaf as it stands on the plant stands this 

 way. When the leaf begins to ripen, around the edges here you will 



