HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 309 



left. A very intelligent minority advocates the leaving 

 of only eight, and some interesting experiments seem to 

 favor this number. It is said that on rich soils the max- 

 imum weight and quality will be obtained with eight 

 leaves; that the labor of suckering will be lessened; that 

 the number of leaves to be stripped from the stalk will 

 be reduced one-fifth, and that the high quality and the 

 increase of weight will make the profit proportionately 

 greater. The standard of ten leaves has been generally 

 adopted for the first topping. As the season advances, 

 this number is reduced with each succeeding topping in 

 the same field. Usually, when the plants have not been 

 destroyed by insect enemies or drouth, and the cultiva- 

 tion has been regular and uniform, about one-half the 

 plants come into top at the same time. The second top- 

 ping takes place about a week after the first, at which 

 time nearly every plant should be topped, unless there 

 is a great inequality in the situation or in the fertility of 

 the soil. 



In pinching out the bud, one should be very careful 

 not to injure the tender top leaves. A very slight injury 

 will develop into serious blemishes when the leaf has 

 reached its fullest expansion. An inexperienced man 

 should never be allowed to top tobacco. It is a task 

 that requires the utmost care and the closest attention. 

 Carelessness in topping may greatly impair the value of 

 the crop, for if more leaves are left on one plant than on 

 another, the plants will ripen unevenly and irregularly, 

 which is always an injury. Every plant that is carried 

 to the barn to be cured should, if possible, be of like 

 maturity, in order to secure a uniform quality in the 

 product. 



When the seed bud has been removed, the plant 

 makes vigorous efforts to reproduce itself, and every bud 

 at the axils of the leaves begins to produce subsidiary 

 plants, each one of which, if left undisturbed, will bios- 



