X TOBACCO 213 



proportion of the tobacco of commerce is raised in the 

 temperate States of America, and in some of the countries 

 of Europe. 



Propagation.— Tobacco is raised entirely from seed, but 

 after the first cutting, successive crops may be gathered from 

 rattoons. Great care is to be observed in the selectionxDf the Seed to be 

 seed, which, in the first instance, should be obtained if pos- sek/"ed^ 

 siblc from Havana. There are many varieties of the tobacco 

 plant cultivated in various parts of the world ; but, in the 

 West Indies, Havana seed will produce the best crops and Havana seed 

 it alone should be sown. The seed should be gathered from ^^^ ^^^*- 

 the finest plants with strong stems and large leaves, and the 

 tobacco farmer should always allow a certain number of his 

 best plants to run into flower and seed. The seed capsules -phe seed 

 are usually dried in the sun, and when dry they are broken capsules. 

 up by rubbing between the hands, afterwards the broken 

 capsules and stalks are separated by winnowing, or a fine 

 sieve may be used. The seeds are then kept in glass bottles 

 properly corked up, and they will remain fresh for a long 

 time. 



Nurseries. — In Cuba the seed is sown in August or Sep- 

 tember, and the same season may be adopted generally in 

 the West Indies. A piece of rich land in a convenient situa- 

 tion having been chosen, it is to be well hoed up and then 

 covered with a layer of dry grass, or brush-wood, wdiich should Fire to be 

 be burnt as soon as weeds have sprung up, and in this way The ilnd.'^^'^ 

 the insects which are very destructive to the seedlings are 

 destroyed. The land may be with advantage hoed up again, 

 covered with rubbish and burnt as before, the ashes serving 

 to supply plant food for the seedling tobacco. The beds may The seed 

 then be made four feet wide and ten in length, and raised 

 about an inch above the general surface of the ground. In 

 order to provide light shade for the young plants, maize may 

 be sown in a line running through the centre of the beds, 

 the corn plants being about eighteen inches apart. The 



