614 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



pollen carefully rubbed over the surface of the stigma of the 

 flower to be fertilized. As soon as this pollination has been com- 

 pleted, the small bag should be replaced over the flower and allowed 

 to remain there until the end of the season. A small tag should be 

 attached to the flower, giving the name of both parents, as Havana 

 X Sumatra (the first name referring to the female and the second 

 to the male parent), with any other data which would assist the 

 grower in keeping a record of the parentage of the cross. 



The best plan which can be followed in the case of crosses is to 

 grow 100 plants of each cross and carefully note the characteristics 

 of the hybrid plants. It will be found that there will be considerable 

 variation in the plants the first season. Seed should be saved from 

 those plants which are most desirable and which show the greatest 

 improvement over the native varieties. The next season a larger 

 area can be planted from this seed ; and if the crop is uniformly of 

 the type desired, enough seed can then be selected the second season 

 to plant the entire crop the third year. 



How to Secure Good Seed. 1. Save the best plants in the field 

 for seed plants. During the cultivation of the crop and 1 the sucker- 

 ing and topping processes a constant search for good plants should 

 be made by growers. 



2. When good plants are observed, they should be plainly 

 marked by a tag or rag tied to the plant, so that they may be easily 

 found and to prevent them from being accidentally topped. 



3. Place a light, 12-pound size, manila paper bag over the flower 

 heads of the selected seed plants before the first flowers open. Inspect 

 the bags every few days for the first two weeks and raise them up 

 farther on the growing stems, arranging them so as to prevent any 

 injury from crowding in the bag during this period of growth. 



4. At the end of the season, when the seed pods are ripe, cut off 

 the plants near the ground without removing the bags and hang 

 them up in a dry place. The bags serve to catch the seed which 

 may fall out of the capsules on drying. 



5. After the seed has thoroughly dried, shell it out of the cap- 

 sules and separate the heavy seed for use by the means described in 

 this paper. 



6. It would be well for every grower using this method of seed 

 selection to save some seed in the ordinary way and plant it for com- 

 parison. (B. P. I. B. 91.) 



The Curing Process. The tobacco crop should be large enough 

 so that a unit of the curing barn can be filled with one grade of 

 tobacco, either wrapper, binder, or filler, in the shortest possible 

 time. This filling of the barn may be allowed to extend from two to 

 three days, but it will be advantageous to fill the unit in a shorter 

 time if possible. The cure depends upon the exclusion of light, thor- 

 ough ventilation, and perfect control of temperatures and humidity. 

 A condition having been produced in the leaf in the field by the 

 topping and suckering process, by which the amount of enzyms in 

 the plant cell are greatly increased, the object of curing is to produce 

 a yellowing in the leaf by prolonging the death of the green cells 



