Tobacco. Food for 



Plants 



The value of tobacco depends so much upon its grade, 75 

 and the grade so much upon the soil and climate, as well as 

 fertilization, that no general rules for tobacco culture can be 

 laid down. Leaving out special tobaccos, such as Perique, the 

 simplest classification of tobacco for the purposes of this book 

 is as follows: Cigar. Tobacco for cigar manufacture, 

 grown chiefly in Connecticut and Wisconsin. Manu- 

 facturing. Tobacco manufactured into plug tobacco, or the 

 various forms for pipe smoking and cigarettes. All kinds of 

 tobacco have the same general habits of growth, but the two 

 classes mentioned have very different plant food requirements. 



Cigar tobaccos generally require a rather light 

 soil; manufacturing tobaccos prefer heavy, fertile soils. 

 In either case, the soil must be clean, deeply broken, 

 and thoroughly pulverized. Fall plowing is always 

 practised on heavy lands, or lands new to tobacco 

 culture. Tobacco may safely be grown on the same 

 land year after year. The plant must be richly 

 fertilized; it has thick, fleshy roots, and comparatively little 

 foraging power that is, ability to send out roots over an ex- 

 tensive tract of soil in search of plant food. 



Fertilizer for tobacco is used in quantities per acre as 

 low as 400 pounds, and as high as 3,000 pounds. It should 

 always be supplemented by a top-dressing of Nitrate of Soda, 

 along the rows of young plants, ranging from 200 to 400 

 pounds per acre. Manufacturing tobaccos are particularly 

 benefited by the application of Nitrate of Soda. While 

 the production of leaf may be enormously increased 

 by abundant use of this Nitrate, the other plant food 

 elements should also be used to secure a well matured 

 crop. In the case of cigar tobaccos, Nitrate should be 

 used exclusively, as it is difficult to secure a thoroughly 

 matured leaf unless the supply of digestible Nitrogen is more 

 or less under control, a condition not practicable with ordin- 

 ary fertilizers. Should the crop at any time before mid- 

 August take on a yellow, sickly color, Nitrate of Soda should 

 be broadcasted at once, along the rows, and at the rate of 200 

 pounds per acre. If this broadcasting can be done just before 

 a rain, the results will appear more promptly. 



