ALBERT AND GABRIELLE HOWARD. 63 



coarseness of growth of the plants concerned, but this rankness has 

 not been found to be transmitted in any degree to the succeeding 

 crop raised under more normal conditions. 



There appears to be a considerable confusion of ideas in much 

 of the literature on this crop as to the effect of environment on 

 the tobacco plant. That free flowering tobaccos, introduced into 

 a new district almost always change in type and frequentl}'^ ap- 

 proximate, after a few years, to the local sorts, has often been 

 observed. The experience in America^ and our own observations 

 amply prove this. That the physical condition of the soil, cultiv- 

 ation, manuring and climate have the most marked effect on the 

 quality of the cured leaves and their suitability for various pur- 

 poses cannot be denied. These are principles well known to all 

 tobacco growers. The conditions in Sumatra, for example, favour 

 the production of the best wrapper leaves. Cuba is famous for 

 the aroma and quality of its cigar tobacco, and the various types 

 of tobacco soil in the United States are largely responsible for 

 the various grades produced in that country. 



A. little consideration will show that in the various modifica- 

 tions to which the tobacco plant is subject, two widely different 

 and distinct kinds of change are involved, namely, (1) changes 

 in the morphological sense, giving rise to the breaking up of the 

 type and the formation of an uneven stand due to the production 

 of plants varying very considerably in the shape, venation and 

 colour of the leaf, in habit and in earliness and lateness, and (2) 

 changes in the size, quality, and texture of the leaves of any partic- 

 ular kind and their suitability for various purposes. As has 

 been indicated, variations in both these directions are possible in 

 introducing a tobacco into a new locality. It is necessary there- 

 fore to attempt to understand the causes which bring about the 

 changes in the type itself and also in the qualit}^ of the type. 

 As has already been stated, no changes in the uniformity of the 

 tj'pe have been observed in the Indian tobaccos grown at Piisa 

 when raised from self-fertilized seed. On the other hand, when the 



I Shamcl & Cobey, 1. c. 



