286 THE SOILS AND CROPS OF THE FARM. 



The great expense of tobacco is in the care 

 of the plant. It is attacked by the large tobacco 

 worm, which must be constantly searched for during the 

 season. When the plant begins to blossom, it must be 

 topped, taking off the flowers and such leaves as ex- 

 perience shows will not ripen in a given locality. Ten 

 to sixteen may ripen. After topping,, suckers appear 

 in the axil of the leaves and must be removed. Some 

 remove the lower leaves while growing, as they are of 

 inferior quality. 



In about two weeks after blossoms appear, the leaves 

 begin to turn yellow and get brittle. It is then ready 

 to harvest. The whole plant is severed at the ground, 

 and hungup (top downward) by various devices in 

 an airy shed to dry. In some instances it is kiln-dried. 

 The sheds are kept open in dry, and closed in moist, 

 weather. 



During the warm moist weather in the winter, the 

 tobacco is stripped, sorted, and packed for market. 

 Every operation in connection with the culture, curing 

 and handling of the crop requires technical knowledge 

 and good judgment. 



BROOM CORN. 



Broom corn is an American inno.vation, which is 

 probably about old enough to celebrate its first cen- 

 tennial. It is a more or less 8accharine_variety of sor- 

 ghum, which is cultivated for its seed panicles. With 

 these the well-known American brooms are made. The 

 varieties used for broom are not materially different in 

 appearance from the more distinctively saccharine 

 varieties. 



The entire crop of the United States in 1886 was 

 about 20,000 tons, nine-tenths of which was raised in 



