PRODUCTION AND COMMERCE. 219 



be, there is always the temptation to put them on the 

 market ; and against a sacrilege like this we are firmly set, 

 let others say and think what they may. 



" Yet another advantage to be gained by the removal of 

 these bottom leaves, which is what the planter terms 

 'priming,' is the increased circulation of air and dis- 

 tribution of light thereby afforded, both essential factors, 

 the merest tyro knows, to the full development of plant 

 life. 



" * Topping ' (the pinching off with the finger-nail 

 the bud at the top of the plant) is an operation requiring 

 considerable skill and judgment. Let it be performed 

 only by hands having these prerequisites. 



"That as many plants as possible may ripen at the 

 same time (a desideratum not to be undervalued in 

 aiming, as all should, at a uniform crop) wait until a large 

 number of plants begin to button before commencing to 

 top. Going about through the crop, topping a plant 

 here and there because it may chance to have buttoned 

 before its fellows, is a damaging process not to be 

 tolerated. 



" No inflexible rule can be given for the number of 

 leaves that should be left on a plant. All depends upon 

 the variety of tobacco, the strength of the soil, the promise 

 of the particular plant, the probable seasons and time left 

 for ripening, &c. 



" One of the most successful growers of heavy dark 

 tobacco we have ever known, once stated to us his con- 

 viction, after years of observation and practice, that one 

 year with another, taking the seasons as they come, eight 

 leaves would give a better result than any other number. 



