180 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



TOPPING, WORMING, AND SUCKEEING TOBACCO. 



In from six to seven weeks, during a favorable season, the " button", or blossom-bud, begins to peer out above 

 the topmost leaves, when it should be topped. The usual method of topping is, after " priming", so as to leave the 

 stalk bare six inches above the surface of the ground, to pinch out the top, leaving usually ten leaves, more rarely 

 twelve, and sometimes but eight. The almost universal custom oiice was to leave from twelve to sixteen leaves on 

 each plant; but experience has demonstrated that the maximum yield, and a better quality, can be obtained by 

 leaving fewer leaves. For a long time ten leaves were believed to produce the highest results, but recent experiments 

 have favored the idea that the highest production may be reached by leaving only eight leaves to the plant. As 

 the season advances the number of leaves is decreased, and the general practice is to have every plant in the field 

 topped by the 1st of September, even though it be so small that it will furnish only four leaves. The first topping, 

 when the crop has been set out in May, will usually occur about the 4th of July, and every week thereafter the 

 field is gone over until the whole is topped. 



An important experiment was made in Montgomery county to test the difference between topping to eight 

 leaves and topping to a higher number, and while one such experiment is not conclusive, it accords fully with the 

 convictions of the most intelligent growers of the county. The land selected was a highland basin, in which the 

 soil was a dark brown loam, with a few nodules of chert intermingled. The subsoil was a ferruginous clay, 

 unctuous 'and highly retentive of moisture, though well drained by the underlying beds of chert. The land hud 

 been in cultivation for half a century, and was well preserved. Two lots of four acres each were selected, both 

 receiving applications of stable manure. No. 1 was set out, 3| feet each way, in the latter part of May, was well 

 cultivated, and the tobacco topped to eight leaves. No. 2 was set out about the same time at the same distance 

 apart, and was cultivated in all particulars like No. 1, and topped to ten leaves. The tobacco on No. 1 ripened first, 

 but was permitted to stand fully two weeks after it was apparently ready for the knife. It was not cut, however, 

 until the tobacco on No. 2 was well ripened, and both pieces were housed about the same time. Hot fires were 

 employed in the curing of both. The tobacco grown on No. 1 was a long, rich, black wrapper, very oily and 

 elastic, fully 30 inches in length, and very heavy ; that grown on No. 2 was lighter in color, but poorer in quality, 

 and was deficient in gum and elasticity. A prominent New York dealer called at the bam after both lots had 

 been stripped and packed down, preparatory to pressing, and offered 17 cents for that grown on No. 1, but only 12 

 cents for that grown on No. 2. But this was not all. Lot No. 1 yielded 1,200 pouuds, and lot No. 2 only 900 

 pounds per acre. The tobacco grown on lot No. 1 was far less expensive in suckering and stripping, for the number 

 of suckers was less, and the number of leaves to be stripped from the stalk was one-fifth less, as compared with 

 No. 2. The entire gain, considering the saving in labor, the difference in price, the excess in weight of the tobacco 

 grown on No. 1 over No. 2, was fully 50 per cent. There was no apparent cause for the difference, except that the 

 tobacco on one lot was topped to eight leaves and allowed to stand a considerable time after it was ripe T and on the 

 other topped to ten leaves and cut as soon as it was thought to be mature. 



Generally about two weeks before the plants are large enough to top the worms begin to make their appe;iran<-(- 

 in sufficient numbers to demand attention, and from this time until it is harvested the war against them is continued. 



There are usually two heavy " showers" of worms, the first coming on just before the period of topping, and 

 the second about the middle of August, or rather during the time of full moon in that month. The last influx of 

 worms is the most destructive and the one most dreaded by the farmers, because it comes at a time when the 

 suckers are troublesome, and they furnish a hiding-place for many worms which are thrown on the ground with 

 the suckers, and, not being destroyed, crawl ilp on the plant and are unmolested in their depredations until the 

 planter has another opportunity to go over his crop. 



In the experience of the most observant planters, if the first influx or "shower" of worms is diligently 

 destroyed the second brood is much lessened, for it is believed that the moths, the tnothers of the second brood, 

 come from the first worms. In some years the number is astonishingly great, as many as one hundred worms 

 having been taken from a single plant during its period of growth. Such a large number, however, is exceptional. 

 They are thought to be very numerous when there is one to the leaf, but generally there are from two to three to the 

 plant. If the previous summer and autumn have been dry, with the ground hard, very few worms may bo 

 expected; but if the previous season has been a wet one, followed by a mild winter, they are apt to prove very 

 troublesome. When the worms are in excess, there is no time for idleness with the planters. All the extra 

 Ijelp which can be secured is employed, it being often the case that a good, active man is not able to keep one acre 

 well wormed. Early and late, through bad weather and good, a constant warfare is waged against these insects, and 

 neglect or inattention at this time may so depreciate the crop that it will be unfit for any except the lowest grades. 

 Taking a number of years in succession, three acres have been found to be about equal to the ability of one man 

 to keep properly free from worms, upon which basis crops are arranged. The worms appear iu great numbers 

 about one year in five. 



Various schemes have been devised to destroy the tobacco moth. One enterprising tobacco firm iu Clarksville 

 a tew years ago offered a premium of $50 in gold to the boy who should kill the greatest number of flies. This 

 aroused exertion among the lads throughout the counties of that district, and many thousand moths were destroyed. 



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