426 THE SOIL AFFECTING COLOR. 



and every successive spring presents an additional field, or 

 opening of tobacco (for it is not necessary to put much fence 

 round that kind of crop) ; and to procure this new ground 

 you will observe him clearing the woods from the sides of 

 the steepest hills, which afford a suitable soil ; for a Virginian 

 never thinks of reinstating or manuring his land with economy 

 until he can find no more new land to exhaust, or wear out, 

 as he calls it ; and, besides, the tobacco which is produced 

 from manured or cow-penned land, is only considered, in 

 ordinary, to be a crop of second quality. It will hence be 

 perceived, (and more particularly when it is known that the 

 earth must be continually worked to make a good crop of 

 tobacco, without even regarding the heat of the sun, or the 

 torrent of sudden showers,) that, however lucrative this kind 

 of culture may be in respect to the intermediate profits, there 

 is a considerable drawback in the waste of soil." * 



In the Connecticut valley where tobacco is grown for 

 wrapping purposes, the selection of soil will depend upon the 

 color of leaf in demand (as the soil as well as the fertil- 

 izers determine in a measure the color and texture of the 

 tobacco). If the grower wishes to obtain dark colored 

 tobacco then the soil selected should be a dark loam ; on the 

 other hand, if a light colored wrapper is desired he selects a 

 light loam, and with the application of proper fertilizers the 

 proper color will be obtained. 



The tobacco plant flourishes well either on high or low 

 ground, providing the soil be dry and free from stones, which 

 are a source of annoyance during the cultivation of the 

 plants and especially in harvesting. When grown on very 

 low ground the plants should be " set " early, so as to harvest 

 before early frosts. The plant may be cultivated on such soil 

 in almost any part of the valley excepting only near the sound, 

 or other body of salt water, the effect produced by plant- 

 ing tobacco too near the sea, more especially in Connecticut, 

 being injurious to the leaf, which is apt to be thick and unfit 



Liancourt in his Travels in North America, says of tcbacco culture in Virginia: "The 

 nature of the country beyond the James River is much more variegated than on this side. 

 At present they are preparing the lands for the planting of tobacco. After having worked 

 the land it ia thrown into small hillocks. * * The cultivation of tobacco, which has 

 been very much neglected during several years, is more followed this year on account of 

 the high price it bears in Europe ; but the soil has been so long worked with this exhausting 

 produce, and is so badly manured (for manure is absolutely necessary for tobacco when the 

 oil is not newly broken up), that it ie not capable of producing good crops." 



