CULTIVATION. 63 



practise it, while his neighbour does not; but sorts the 

 lower leaves separately, and sells them as so-called ' lugs,' 

 for which he gets a little over half the price of the good 

 upper leaves. Those who do not prime, must generally 

 top lower, or they must risk that the whole plant, or at 

 least the upper leaves, will not mature fully. 



" Topping is done to throw the strength, which would 

 go to develop seeds, into the leaves. It must, therefore, 

 be done as early as the seed-buds show themselves, if not 

 earlier. This work must be done, and the question is, 

 how to do it. If there are but few leaves on the plant, 

 even these will not ripen, if it is not topped ; if there are 

 many, then the grower has the choice either to break off 

 the flower-stalk only or to take off one or more leaves 

 also. This should be done in answer to the questions : 

 1st. Is there time enough to ripen even the upper leaves 

 fully? and, 2nd, Are the plant and the soil strong enough 

 to ripen all leaves, even the upper ones ? The answers to 

 these queries will decide the way of topping. If yes, he 

 takes off the flower-stalk only ; if no, he tops to 8, 10, 12, 

 14, or 16 leaves, according to his judgment, that is, he 

 allows so many leaves to remain as will have a good fair 

 chance of reaching maturity." 



As Bishop remarks, cultivators are not agreed on the 

 time and place for topping tobacco plants. " Some favour 

 the plan of topping as soon as the blossom-buds appear, 

 others prefer to wait until in blossom. I think there is 

 no harm in letting the earliest plants bloom before being 

 topped, but after once beginning, they should be broken 

 off as soon as the buds begin to look yellow, and the 

 latest plants as soon as the buds appear. A new beginner 



