TOBACCO CULTURE. I 3 



purposes. A few of the upper leaves of the plant should be 

 removed for the purpose of preventing injury from storms, 

 or wind, and also in order that the entire vigor and strength 

 of the plant may be devoted to the perfection of its seed, 

 rather than for the development of the leaf. 



Only the earliest maturing seed pods should be allowed 

 to ripen, and all others should be removed before maturity. 

 What the planter thus loses in quantity, he makes up in 

 quality. However, the number of seeds developed in a sin- 

 gle pod is enormous, reaching as high as 5,000, and an 

 ounce of clean seed will easily contain from 300,000 to 

 400,000 individual seeds. After the pods have turned brown 

 (thus indicating ripeness) they should be cut with the stem 

 on which they are borne, and preserved in their natural 

 condition, protected against air and moisture, and kept at a 

 temperature varying as little as possible, until needed for 

 sowing. 



The selection of seed should be regulated by the variety 

 or character of crop desired, bearing in mind that this latter 

 feature is controlled largely by the soil and climatic condi- 

 tions of the locality in which the crop is to be made. The 

 seed should be bright, hard, and free from chaff and impuri- 

 ties. Cuban growers retain a large admixture of chaff with 

 the seed as a protection against mould and deterioration. 

 Seeds remaining in the pods, if well dried and bottled, 

 should not be susceptible to deterioration or mould. The 

 Cuban practice is not a desirable one to follow, and it seems 

 to be the result of careless practice, or crude and imperfect 



