17 



A short time after the flowering bud has been removed, suckers will 

 appear in the axils of the leaves and develop with great rapidity. If 

 these suckers are allowed to develop, they will rob the parent plant. 

 They should be removed just as soon as they appear. 



In some tobacco-producing countries, wliere it is desired to secure 

 a light, thin leaf for cigar-wrapper purposes, the plants are not topped, 

 but the seed heads are allowed to develop in order to draw some of the 

 nutritive substance out of the leaves and make them thinner and lighter. 



Two crops of suckers generally appear in the axils of the leaves 

 and both should be removed. After the lower leaves of the plant have 

 been gathered, one or two suckers fi'om the gi^ound nodes may be allowed 

 to develop; then, just as soon as all the leaves from the main plant 

 have been harvested, cut out the old stalk and remove all but one 

 sucker from the stub. If the season is favorable and this second or 

 sucker crop is cultivated properly, a fairly good quality of tobacco may 

 be obtained that will be suitable for fillers in cheap cigars. 



SELECTION OF SEED. 



At the present time no attention is paid to seed selection, which is 

 the most important factor in the production of a uniform type of 

 tobacco. The selection of seed not only affects the quality and quantity 

 of the crop, but also determines the type of tobacco that will be pro- 

 duced. Xo farmer should grow a poor type of tobacco when it costs no 

 more to grow an improved one. 



Tobacco is a plant that, if neglected, will cross breed and split up 

 into many different types. The required conditions for cross-breeding 

 could hardly be more favorable than those that are to be found in the 

 tobacco districts of the Philippine Islands. We seldom find a tobacco 

 grower in the Philippines who makes any attempt to select his seed 

 from good, healthy plants, or from any one distinct type of plants; 

 as a result not one field of a distinct type of tobacco can be found, but 

 instead, eight to twelve types are usually found growing in the same 

 field. The general practice of the Filipino planter is to gather seed 

 from any and all plants, suckers included; the large, small, and worm- 

 eaten pods are saved together, and from such seed the plants for the 

 following crop are secured. 



Seed should be selected only from the plants which most nearly 

 approach the type desired. When selecting a plant for seed it should 

 be studied thoroughly and note taken of its many important parts, such 

 as place to be grown, use to be made of leaf, height, perfection and 

 number of leaves, uniformity of leaves, position of leaves, length of 

 internodes. size of stalk, rapidity of growth, etc. The quality of leaf 

 should be judged with regard to size, shape (see text figures Nos. 2, 3), 

 texture, color, veins, uprightness, etc. As it is impossible to set down 

 98548 2 



