Fertilizers for Various Special Crops 339 



The influence of fertilizers on the quality of the crop. 



A point of great importance in the fertilizing of tobacco 

 is the influence of the constituents applied on the market- 

 able quality of the crop, as for certain purposes, espe- 

 cially for the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes, the 

 tobacco must possess peculiar characteristics in order 

 to bring the highest price in the market. In other words, 

 in the growing of this crop, as is the case in many others, 

 both the yield and quality must be taken into considera- 

 tion, and frequently the latter point is of quite as much 

 importance as the former, though a reasonable yield must 

 be secured before the influence of quality is of practical 

 significance. The quality of the leaf is believed to be 

 influenced chiefly by the constituent potash, though 

 many growers object to the use of various nitrogenous 

 and phosphatic materials, believing that they, too, exer- 

 cise a decidedly unfavorable influence upon the quality 

 of the leaf. Careful experiments, however, do not justify 

 many of the opinions of growers and dealers regarding the 

 effect of the different materials upon the quality of wrapper 

 tobacco. 



The main points, therefore, in the fertilizing of tobacco 

 are to see to it that a sufficient quantity of plant-food is 

 applied in order to secure the largest possible yield con- 

 sistent with quality, and second, to avoid the use of such 

 constituents as are positively injurious. 



The conclusions from Connecticut experiments. 



Experiments in the application of fertilizers to to- 

 bacco have been carried out at the Connecticut Experi- 

 ment Station with great care and skill for a number 



