292 TOBACCO LEAF. 



tobacco because it is strong, and may be adulterated 

 with inferior tobacco grown in other countries without 

 diminishing the quantity of nicotine below a certain 

 standard. The people of Europe have, for generations, 

 been accustomed to using tobacco cured by open fires, 

 and their tastes have been educated to enjoy the smoky 

 flavor. 



The Soil for Shipping Tobacco. The same soil 

 often has the capacity of producing imperfectly all the 

 classes of tobacco, but such versatility in the soil is not 

 favorable for yielding the highest excellence in any one 

 of the classes. There must be a natural adaptation in 

 the soil and climate to the growth of a particular class, 

 in order to reach the highest and best results. There is 

 an endless variety of soils, and there is an endless variety 

 of types and sub-types that pass, by almost impercep- 

 tible gradations, from one to the other. 



To produce the best shipping leaf, there must be a 

 strong, rich soil, not necessarily deep, but with a large 

 content of potash in its composition. Low river bot- 

 toms subject to overflows rarely produce the best quali- 

 ties of this tobacco. Too much vegetable matter in the 

 soil, imperfectly decomposed, makes a large, rough, 

 harsh tobacco, wanting in all the best qualities of a 

 shipping tobacco. Upland soils are usually better 

 drained than bottom lands, and the humus from such 

 soils, receiving no additions from other than natural 

 sources, is not excessive. For this reason, other things 

 being equal, such soils are preferred for tobacco. 



One of the most famous tobacco-growing districts is 

 the Clarksville, embracing the counties of Montgomery, 

 Dickson, Humphreys, Houston, Cheatham, Stewart and 

 Kobertson in Tennessee, and Trigg, Christian, Todd, 

 Logan, Simpson, and some areas in the Green River 

 district of Kentucky, where the soil is not deep but fer- 

 tile, the best soils having a deep, reddish subsoil, in 



