VARIETIES OF THE PLANT. 43 



HONDURAS. Used in the yellow-tobacco districts 

 for growing the bright mahogany. It is a vigorous 

 grower and very healthy. 



Several old varieties, as the Yellow Pryor, the Hes- 

 ter, the Gooch, and the original White Burley, are said 

 to have been improved by careful culture and cross-fer- 

 tilization, by the late R. L. Ragland, of Virginia, for a 

 long time the best known and one of the most successful 

 tobacco growers in the yellow belt. 



Among the new varieties of merit for dark, rich ex- 

 port tobacco recently originated, may be mentioned the 

 Kentucky Yellow, one of the largest varieties known, 

 combining weight with fine texture. 



Every one of the varieties mentioned in this list has 

 its excellences and its advocates. Two farmers, living 

 side by side, upon the same soils, will often differ in 

 their preferences, and will grow continuously for many 

 years different varieties from each other. Each variety 

 has some good points, and is deficient in others, and 

 from this cause the great difference in opinion as to 

 merits arises. 



In the South, the favorite selections among a ma- 

 jority of planters, for the purposes indicated, are the 

 following: For yellow tobacco: Gooch, Broadleaf 

 Orinoco, or White Stem Orinoco, as it is sometimes 

 called, Yellow Orinoco, Hester, Bradley, Tilly, Ster- 

 ling, Yellow Pryor, Lacks, Primus, Tuckahoe. For 

 manufacturing purposes, flue, sun and air cured : Bo- 

 nanza, Flanagan, Little Orinoco, Sterling, Hyco, Hes- 

 ter, Sweet Orinoco and Bradley on siliceous loams, and 

 White Burley on strong limestone soils. For mild chew- 

 ing tobacco and smokers: Sweet Orinoco on siliceous 

 soils, and White Burley on limestone lands. For heavy 

 shipping leaf: Blue Pryor, Medley Pryor, Beat-All, 

 Yellow Mammoth, and Kentucky Yellow; the Shoe- 

 string is largely grown for shipping abroad, though very 



