TOBACCO 195 



on cultivation should be frequent until such time as 

 the plants get large enough to practically shade the 

 ground. In Cuba this cultivation is all done with 

 the hoe, but this is unduly expensive. Any of the one- 

 horse cultivators with numerous small teeth can be 

 used successfully in young tobacco. As the plants 

 get older a heel sweep, so much used by the cotton 

 planters, is preferable, as the long, narrow wing will 

 stir the ground under the leaves without breaking 

 them. When the tobacco reaches a certain height, 

 depending upon the kind and the richness of the soil, 

 it is topped by pinching out the terminal bud in order 

 to prevent its seeding and to give an increased de- 

 velopment to the leaves. Suckers will now start in 

 the axils of the leaves, and it is necessary to go over 

 the field every few days to remove them, thus con- 

 fining the growth to the leaves already formed on 

 the stem. 



It has been found that growing the plants in par- 

 tial shade profoundly affects the character of the leaf, 

 making it thinner and also freer from gum resins 

 and nicotine. The plants, too, grow taller and the 

 leaves are larger, making them more useful for cigar 

 wrappers. In Cuba rows of bananas are often planted 

 in the tobacco fields to furnish shade and act as wind- 

 breaks. The practice of covering tobacco fields 

 with cheese cloth to give shade and thus secure leaves 

 of greater value for wrappers originated in Connect- 

 icut, but is now more employed in Cuba and Porto 

 Rico. The cloth, which is specially woven for the 

 purpose with strong threads and wide meshes, is 

 stretched over wires that are supported by posts high 



