142 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



to keep her position in the business of tobacco growing. 

 Can we furnish this t}^pe of leaf? 



In 1900 the Connecticut station, with the co-operation of 

 the Division of Soils of the Department of Agriculture, set 

 about answering this question. A great number of matters 

 were involved ; among them, questions of labor, cost of 

 buildings (if new buildings were needed), new knowledge 

 and experience in growing, curing, fermenting and packing 

 the crop. But obviously the first thing to determine was 

 whether, in our soil and climate, Sumatra leaf of good quality 

 could be grown at all. That and no other was what we pro- 

 posed to determine, and that was all we could hope to deter- 

 mine in one }'ear, with our limited means and experience. 



I need not here describe the details of our work in 1900. 

 One-third of an acre was enclosed with a .substantial wooden 

 frame, to support a cover of very thin cheese-cloth, 9 feet 

 above the ground, and closed on all sides to the ground with 

 the same material. The soil was fertilized as usual for our 

 domestic leaf, and half the area was set with Sumatra plants 

 and the other half with New England Havana. Both were 

 set much closer than is usual, in rows 3^ feet apart and 

 plants 12 inches apart in the row. Our experiences during 

 the growing season were, in brief, these : — 



The cover was a perfect protection against insect pests. 

 Cutworms did some damage to the young plants, but no liv- 

 ing insects preyed on the tobacco. At harvest it was veiy r 

 hard to find a leaf which showed insect bites. The tobacco 

 was also perfectly protected from wind-whipping and from 

 light hail. The temperature under the shade was consider- 

 ably higher than outside, and fluctuated less. Most notice- 

 able, however, was the way in which the shaded crop was 

 protected from drought. The slightest patter of rain went 

 through the thin cheese-cloth readily, but evaporation from 

 the crop and soil into the air was greatly hindered. The 

 air under the cloth was usually very moist. In July of that 

 year we had a very dry time, when the crop outside on that 

 land stopped growing for a few days, for lack of water. 

 But while the crop outside suffered, that under the shade 

 continued to grow thriftily, and the soil very near the sur- 



