30 THE PLANT. 



The plant succeeds best, in Europe, on light, sanely, 

 liumose, loamy, or marly soils. The strongest kinds, 

 richest in albumen and nicotine, are grown on virgin land, 

 and on heavy clay soil manured with bone-dust, shavings 

 and clippings of horns and claws, blood, bristles, human 

 excrements, oilcake, and liquid manure. 



In Havannah, tobacco is grown on virgin soil, on 

 cleared forest lands, which are often burnt first, as is done 

 ill Virginia. The best qualities (the poorest in albumen) 

 are yielded in the third year of cultivation. 



From this it woLdd appear, that animal manure 

 abounding in nitrogen (ammonia) favours the production 

 of nitrogenous constituents ; but the soil, on the other 

 hand, which is poor in ammonia, and probably contains 

 the nitrogen in the form of nitric acid, produces leaves 

 containing much less albumen and nicotine. 



The effect of removing the tobacco plant from the 

 rearing beds to the field is very striking. Transplanted 

 into the new soil, the young tobacco plant proceeds in 

 the first instance, like seed in the process of germination, 

 to produce roots; the leaves already formed wither on 

 transplantation, and then- movable constituents, together 

 with the store of organisable matter collected in the 

 roots, are apphed to the production of numerous branch 

 radicles. A second transplantation has a still more 

 favourable effect upon the underground organs of absorp- 

 tion. ^ 



As the direction of the organic operations in summer- 

 plants is entirely turned to the formation of seed, and as 

 this consumes the materials which give activity to the 

 roots and leaves, the tobacco planter breaks out, when 

 the plant has put forth six to ten leaves, the heart of the 

 middle stem, on which the flowers and seed capsules 

 grow. Stripped thus of the crown, the whole vigour of the 



