PRODUCTION AND COMMEECE. 219 



be, there is always the temptation to put them on the 

 market ; and against a sacrilege like this we are firmly set, 

 let others say and think what they may. 



" Yet another advantage to he gained by the removal of 

 these bottom leaves, which is what the planter terms 

 ' priming,' is the increased circulation of air and dis- 

 tribution of light thereby afforded, both essential factors, 

 the merest tyro knows, to the full development of plant 

 life. 



" ' Topping ' (the pinching off with the finger-nail 

 the bud at the top of the plant) is an operation requiring 

 considerable skill and judgment. Let it be performed 

 only by hands having these prerequisites. 



" That as many plants as possible may ripen at the 

 same time (a desideratum not to be undervalued in 

 aiming, as all should, at a uniform crop) wait until a large 

 number of plants begin to button before commencing to 

 top. Going about through the crop, topping a plant 

 here and there because it may chance to have buttoned 

 before its fellows, is a damaging process not to be 

 tolerated. 



" No inflexible rule can be given for the number of 

 leaves that should be left on a plant. All depends upon 

 the variety of tobacco, the strength of the soil, the promise 

 of the particular plant, the probable seasons and time left 

 for ripening, &c. 



" One of the most successful growers of heavy dark 

 tobacco we have ever known, once stated to us his con- 

 viction, after years of observation and practice, that one 

 year with another, taking the seasons as they come, eight 

 leaves would give a better result than any other number. 



