TOBACCO. 



Ibe fermentation is completed, an oily, azotized 

 volatile matter called nicotine is found in the 

 leaves. Tbi substance, ititotiu*, which pos- 

 * all the properties of a base, was not 

 present before the fermentation. The different 

 kiuiU of tobacco are distinguished from one an- 

 , other, like wines, by having very different odo- 



> substances, which are generated along 

 with the mcotuu. 



i oil which contains potash, both wheat 

 and tobacco may be reared in succession, be- 

 cause the latter plant does not require so much 



phosphates, salts which are invariably de- 

 manded largely in wheat, but requires only al- 

 kalies, and food containing nitrogen. 



According; to the analysis of Posselt and Rei- 

 mann, 10,000 parts of the leaves of the tobacco 

 plant contain 16 parts of phosphate of lime, 

 8-8 parts of silica, and no magnesia ; whilst an 

 equal quantity of wheat straw contains 47-3 

 parts, and the same quantity of the grain of 

 wheat 99-45 parts of phosphates. 



Now, if we suppose that the grain of wheat 

 is equal to half the weight of its straw, then the 

 quantity of phosphates extracted from a soil by 

 the same weights of wheat and tobacco must be 

 as 97-7 : 16. This difference is very considera- 



The roots of tobacco, as well as those of 

 wheat, extract the phosphates contained in the 

 soil, but they restore them again, because they 



t essentially necessary to the develope- 

 ment of the plant. (Ufbig\<t Organic Chemistry.} 

 Tttlareo is a plant that contains much mineral 

 matter. An acre yielding 800 Ibs. would con- 

 tain about 160 Ibs. of mineral matter, most or 

 all of which is carried off from the soil. Hence 

 th~ exhaustion of land from this crop is greater 

 than that from grain crops, provided thfir straw 

 t* duly rttnrned to tht jUlds, as in this case the 

 lid be confined to the phosphates and 

 other mineral matters removed with the grain, 

 which in a four years' rotation would amount to 

 only about 83 Ibs. per acre, instead of about 600 

 Ibs. carried off by the tobacco in the same time. 

 The following analysis furnished by Professor 

 F K. W. Johnston of the ashes of tobacco leaves, 

 gives the mineral constituents, with their pro- 

 portions per cent : 



Potash . 12-14 



Soda 0-07 



Lime 45-90 



Magnesia . . . 13-09 



Chloride of sodium (common salt) . 3-49 



Chloride of potassium .... 3-98 



Phosphate of iron 5-48 



Phosphate of lime 1-/19 



Sulphate of lime 'gypsum) . . . 6-35 



Silica (sand or flint) 8-01 



From this view of the mineral constituents of 

 tobacco, the soil most favourable to its growth 

 may be readily recognised. The proportions of 

 -ral articles removed by every 100 Ibs. 

 is not difficult to estimate, with the additions of 

 the special manures required to prevent the 

 exhaustion of the soil. Among these it will be 

 !, the largest amounts are lime, magne- 

 sia, potash, iron, and silica. 



Some suco ts are reported in the 



Al!>i*y Cultivator, of the culture of tobacco in 



Massachusetts. The variety produced there is 



' -innecticut Seed-leaf," and it usually 



le the price, and sometimes even 



nore, of Virginia and Kentucky tobacco. For 



TORMENTIL. 



] a profitable crop, rich land is necessary, though 

 sandy soils manured at the rate of 10 or 20 tuo- 

 horse-loads per acre, will produce well. With 

 good management, the yield is from 1500 to 

 2000 Ibs. per acre, of marketable tobacco, capa- 

 ble of bringing an average price of 8 cts. 



The Massachusetts growers believe that, with 

 proper attention, instead of injuring the soil, to- 

 bacco may be made an ameliorating or improving 

 crop, the liberal manuring required favouring the 

 after crops; wheat and other grain, and also grass 

 crops, flourishing better when tobacco forms a 

 part of the rotation, than where it does not. 

 Where $36 worth of manure was put upon 1 

 acre and 100 rods, a ton of tobacco was raised, 

 worth $160. The same piece of land, sown 

 immediately afterwards in wheat, yielded 30 

 j bushels. The following crop being grass, pro- 

 duced 4 tons of hay at two cuttings. One farmer 

 in South Hadley had 17 acres planted in tobacco. 



A long and instructive account of the mode 

 of cultivating tobacco in Cuba is given in the 

 Report of the Commissioner of Patents for 1817. 



TOMATO, or LOVE-APPLE. (Solynnm 

 lycopersictim ; Lycopersicum e-sculatiim-) Several 

 j varieties of this plant are found in our gardens and 

 fields, some of which are red and others yellow j 

 among the reds are, 1st, the common large; 2d, 

 the small; 3d, the pear-shaped; 4th, the cherry- 

 shaped. Of the yellow there are, 1st, the large 

 yellow; 2d, the small or cherry-yellow. 



The tomato is a native of South America. 

 It forms a rich vegetable sauce, and an excel- 

 lent addition to soups. With sugar it makes 

 a very valuable preserve. In the Middle or 

 Northern States, the seed may be sown in April, 

 in a hot-bed ; or in May, in a warm situ- 

 ation, and transplanted as soon as the season 

 will admit. A middling soil produces more 

 fruit and less vines than a very rich soil. 



Tomatoes remaining on the vines late in the 

 season, and which, if left out, would be destroyed 

 by frost, may be preserved for many weeks by 

 simply pulling up the vines and hanging them 

 up, with the fruit upon them, in some house or 

 sheltered situation. Those not ripe when the 

 vines are pulled mature afterwards. 



Cows are said to thrive well and give an in- 

 creased quantity of milk of improved quality 

 when fed upon tomatoes. They may not take 

 them kindly at first, but are said to grow fond 

 of them soon. 



TOMENTOSE. In botany, means covered 

 with dense, close, white hairs, or down. 



TOP-DRESSING. A term applied to such 

 manures as are laid upon land without being 

 turned in : and also to the practice of dressing 

 the surface of grass land, or other crops, with 

 some kinds of highly reduced manure, that can 

 be evenly spread out or sown equally over them 

 by the hand. 



A great variety of substances are in use for 

 this purpose, such as soot, ashes, guano, and the 

 dung of pigeons and other birds, rape dust, lime, 

 gypsum, &c., the benefits of which are noticed 

 under their respective heads. 



TORMENTIL (Torment Ilia, alluding to a sup- 

 posed efficacy in toothache, as well as to a belief 

 that it could cure diseases of the bowels). The 

 British species are two; both perennial. They 

 are now regarded as belonging to the genus 

 Pote.ntilla, and the natural order Rosarece. 



1. In England common tormentil or sept-foil 

 (P. ojficinalis or tormentilla) grows in banen pas- 



