YELLOW TOBACCO. 355 



but never afterwards, however much they may be 

 coaxed. This, doubtless, grows out of an increased 

 density, or compactness, of the soil. There seems 

 everywhere to be a reciprocal relation between the color 

 of the soil and the color of the cured product, for no 

 case is reported in which a tobacco, having an orange, 

 or lemon yellow color, has been grown, except on light 

 colored, porous soils. Even the darkening of the color 

 of the soil, by the application of too much stable 

 manure, will change the product from a bright yellow 

 to a mahogany, or mottled leaf. 



This must be said, however, of the yellow tobacco 

 product of nearly every region, except that grown on the 

 very poor soils of Virginia, North and South Carolina, 

 that it will blacken under pressure, while the typical 

 yellow wrapper, grown on suitable soils in the last 

 named States, will remain as bright and as stainless 

 under the great pressure of the manufacturer's screw as 

 if made of gold-foil. The poorer the soil upon which 

 the tobacco is grown, the better it will bear this test, 

 and this, to a great extent, is the test of merit and 

 value. 



Typical Soils for Yellow Leaf. In the Champaign 

 or Eastern district of North Carolina, where yellow 

 tobacco is now grown, embracing the counties of 

 Edgecombe, Wilson, Nash, Pitt, Greene, Duplin, 

 Jones, Lenoir, Northampton, Wayne, Warren, Franklin, 

 Johnston, Wake, Sampson and Halifax, the formation 

 consists largely of uncompacted, loose strata of sand, 

 and sandy and gravelly clays, generally resting upon 

 marly beds of half-decomposed shells, a few feet below 

 the surface. These marly beds often come to the sur- 

 face along the bluffs, or in the bottoms of the stream 

 beds. The country is generally level, or slightly undu- 

 lating, except where the streams have carved out chan- 

 nels through the spongy strata. The soil is grayish in 



