REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. LV 



black rot, about which there is no longer any doubt, is assured, and it 



is confidently predicted by the packers themselves that the new 

 method will entirely supersede the old. especially where large crops 

 are to be handled. If this is done it will mean a saving to the State 

 of Pennsylvania alone of an amount far exceeding the present cost of 

 the whole Soils Division. 



In the early spring arrangements were made with four prominent 

 growers on different soil types in Lancaster Count3 T to introduce some 

 of the finer Cuban seed, and these experiments arc now progressing 

 under our control, the latest reports of the work being very promising. 

 It will, of course, be several months before the actual results can be 

 determined, but if they seem to warrant it all necessary attention will 

 be given to the important experiments at this point in the endeavor to 

 raise the quality of the Pennsylvania leaf. 



In my last report I announced the complete success of the small 

 experiment of growing a line type of Sumatra leaf on certain soils in 

 the Connecticut Valley. This experiment had been made on a small 

 tract of one-third of an acre, and it was thought best to extend it to a 

 larger area in order to see if, under the conditions prevailing and with 

 the large cost of production, the tobacco could be profitably raised in 

 the valley. Accordingly, in the spring of 1901 arrangements were 

 made with a number of farmers in Connecticut and Massachusetts, in 

 areas as widely separated as possible, and on typical soils which it was 

 thought could be used for the Sumatra tobacco, and nearly 43 acres 

 were placed under our immediate control. It was agreed that the 

 farmers should furnish all needful material and labor, and that the 

 Department should assume direction of affairs in the practical manage- 

 ment of the crop. 



The understanding is that all the necessary information regarding 

 the actual cost of the work shall be at the disposal of the Department 

 to publish, and that the Department itself shall have the right to sell 

 the crop for the farmers, so as to insure an absolutely impartial judg- 

 ment from the leaf dealers as to the quality and value of the product. 

 It will, of course, be some time before the actual results of this large 

 experiment will be available for publication. It has been estimated 

 roughly that about $20,000 has been invested on the part of the farmers, 

 with no expense whatever to the Department except that of supervision. 



The experiment has attracted a most remarkable interest, and prom- 

 inent growers and packers have visited Tariffville, the Department's 

 headquarters for this work, from many places in Connecticut and 

 Massachusetts, as well as from Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Wis- 

 consin, and Florida. The present indications are that the crop will 

 yield at least double the cost of production, although nearly three- 

 fourths of the original cost is in what might be termed permanent 

 improvements— that is, in the erection of the shade — which will last from 



