13 



quantity grown in 18G0, was 429,390,711 lbs. From this 

 brief view of its history and commercial relations, we 

 turn to its cultivation. 



n.-CULTI\^ATIOX OF TOBACCO. 



SOILS REQUIRED, 



Ix a mere speculative view, without the least ex- 

 perience, one might come to some conclusions, which 

 would not be far from the truth. Because tobacco seed 

 is minutely small, and the young plant delicate, and for 

 a time of slow growth, we might conclude, that it 

 should have a soil capable of being very nicely and 

 evenly worked. Because it is subsequently of rampant 

 growth, and requires, in order to best meet the interest 

 of the cultivator, to put forth its voluminous foliage in 

 a short time, we might infer that it should have a soil 

 abounding in organic (vegetable and animal) matter, 

 and that, in an advanced state of decomposition, so that 

 when the plant takes to towering and spreading, it 

 should have plenty of food about its roots, in a high 

 state of preparation, cooked in advance, if we may use 

 that term, and all ready to be taken in by the plant, and 

 assimilated. And because analysis shows that tobacco 

 abounds in the alkalis, especially in potash, we might 

 infer, that the soil should be well supplied with alkaline 

 matters, as in the case of virgin soils, just cleared from 

 the forrest, or those, which, having been long cultivated, 

 have been well manured for previous crops. We might 

 infer, also, that if a sod be chosen, it should be plowed 

 1* 



