MISCELLANEOUS CROPS. 285 



exhausted tobacco lands are sometimes seeded to blue 

 grass, and allowed to remain several years. 



Nitrogen and potash fertilizers have a marked effect 

 upon the yield and quality of the tobacco in some lo- 

 calities. 



Tobacco is an acrid narcotic, annual herb, with large, 

 clammy, entire leaves, belonging to the same family as 

 the potato, tomato, egg plant, ground cherry, henbane, 

 and Jamestown weed. 



The quality, and consequently the price of tobacco, 

 varies greatly with the soil and climate, and still more 

 greatly with the method of handling and curing. Any 

 variety is soon modified when grown under new con- 

 ditions. There are, therefore, many varieties and sub - 

 varieties. Tobacco is also classified according to the 

 way it is cured, the use to which it is put, and the 

 market which it supplies. Most varieties produce 

 several grades. The classification of tobacco is, there- 

 fore, intricate. The Havana or seed leaf, and the 

 burley, each with the many different prefixes, are pro- 

 bably the principal variety types. 



The culture of tobacco is similar to that of cabbage. 

 The small seeds are sown in hot or sheltered beds in 

 March. Care is required to have the bed as free of 

 weed seeds as may be, because the plants are easily 

 injured if disturbed by weeding. 



The plants are transplanted when about the size of 

 cabbage, into hills about three by four feet, varying 

 with variety, soil and method of cultivation. The 

 plants require not only intensive soil culture, but also 

 careful culture. Any disturbance of the plant is harm- 

 ful. On this account some recommend exclusive hand 

 culture, and thicker planting. 



