TOBACCO 199 



Tobacco comes very true to type, and a single plant 

 yields such a large quantity of seed that it is easy, " 

 with a little care, to secure a sufficient supply from 

 the best plants. A considerable number of varieties 

 of tobacco are in cultivation that are adapted to the 

 different purposes for which it is grown; but all of 

 them can easily be much improved by a little care 

 in seed selection. 



Diseases and Insects. — Tobacco is attacked by a 

 number of diseases and insects, only a few of which 

 can be discussed. The damping-off fungus (^Rhizoc- 

 tonia) that causes such heavy losses in the seed beds, 

 especially in the tropics, has already been referred 

 to, and several methods of combating it suggested. 

 This must be considered as one of the most serious 

 diseases of the crop, and much more study is needed 

 to determine the best way of controlling it under 

 different conditions. The flea-beetle (^Epetrix) is 

 also quite frequently injurious in the seed beds, 

 biting small holes on the under side of the leaves. 

 This insect is repelled to a considerable extent by 

 applications of Bordeaux mixture. Spraying the 

 young plantlets with Bordeaux as a preventive for 

 the damping-off fungus will also serve to largely 

 obviate trouble from this pest. For the flea-beetle 

 it is best, however, to add Paris green to the spray. 

 It is probable that applications of Bordeaux mixture 

 to tobacco seed beds w^ill always more than pay their 

 cost in the increased vigor of the plants secured, even 

 when no serious outbreak of damping off occurs. 

 When the plants are set in the field, they are liable to 

 be destroyed by various cutworms and other related 



