2i6 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE chap. 



plants have been topped, and they are easily broken off with 

 the fingers. After a time fresh buds will appear and they 

 must be removed also, each plant being gone over at regular 

 intervals so as to prevent the formation of side shoots, there- 

 by causing the whole vigour of the plant to be diverted to 

 the leaves. Siickeriiig is an incorrect term to be applied to 

 this operation, but it is in general use amongst tobacco 

 Disbudding, planters. Disbudding would describe the process with ac- 

 curacy, and the employment of that word is, therefore, to be 

 recommended. 



Larvae. ENEMIES OF THE ToBACCO PLANT.— The principal ene- 



mies of the plant are caterpillars, or larucB as they are scien- 

 tifically called, of butterflies and moths. The larvae are 

 usually found on the under surface of the leaves ; and, unless 

 they be sought out and destroyed, they will greatly injure 

 The turkeys the crops. Turkeys kill the larvae in great numbers ; and, 

 kisecti^ in the tobacco districts of the United States, flocks of these 

 birds are kept for the purpose of destroying the " worms," 

 as the larvcB are sometimes improperly called. On tobacco 

 farms it is necessary for the " worming " to be done twice a 

 day, for one larva, if left on a plant for twenty-four hours, 

 The larva of will commit sad havoc with the leaves. The caterpillar that 

 moth!^ ^"^ does most damage is a big green one, and it is the larva of 

 a large sphinx moth of a greyish black colour with orange 

 spots on each side of the body. {Sphinx quinquemacnlatus^ 



Cutting. Harvesting. — As soon as the tobacco leaves are ripe, the 



plants must be cut down close to the root ; and, after being 



allowed to wither in the sun, they are carried to the drying 



house where the leaves are converted into the manufactured 



tobacco so well known to everyone. 



Two There are two methods of cutting. The first is that em- 



methods , ° 



of cutting, ployed in Cuba and other places where the finest tobacco is 



grown. A number of sticks are cut and supported some 



distance above the ground by forks or by a rough frame-work. 



The cutters then with sharp curved knives quickly cut the 



