18 



very thin body, and consequently were too prominent when wraipcd 

 in cigars. 



It thus becomes very desirable to breed a special type of wrapper 

 leaf for shade growing and outside growing, and also a special type 

 of filler tobacco. Such types would undoubtedly greatlj- increase the 

 value of the Porto Rico tobacco crop. 



EXPERIMENTS IN GROWING, CURING, AND FERMENTING 



TOBACCO. 



As a result of the above-described preliminary Jnvestigations it 

 was concluded that Porto Rico presents very favorable conditions 

 for the production of considerable high-grade tobacco, but that the 

 extension of such a business would necessarily be confined to suit- 

 able soil areas and favorable climatic environments. The investiga- 

 tions also show that for the most part the methods emploj'ed by the 

 planters are primitive, and that there is great need of their adopting 

 more up-to-date methods. It was decided, therefore, to undertake 

 experiments with growing, curing, and fermenting tobacco. 



Owing to the limited funds available for this work it was necessarj'' 

 to arrange for cooperation with an interested tobacco grower. Such 

 an arrangement was entered into with a planter near Aguas Buenas, 

 the latter giving the use of land, labor, buildings, and material, in so 

 far as it did not interfere witli his regular business. The facilities 

 offered by the equipment of the ordinarj^ planters are, at the best, in 

 many ways unsatisfactorj' for experimental purposes, and becau.se 

 the funds available would not permit the necessary modification of 

 these conditions some of the experiments undertaken failed. A 

 report of such of the work as is of value follows: 



SEED-BED EXPERIMENTS. 



Several seed beds were made, each 3.5 feet wide by 18 feet long. 

 The earth was raised a few inches above the general level in bed 

 form, and the sides of the beds supported by old boards or poles. 

 One half of the beds was shaded by a iemovaV)Ie straw shade and 

 the other half remained without shade. The shade was supported 

 on poles about 4 feet above the beds. (PI. I, figs. 1 and 2.) . 



Imported Ilabana, Connecticut Ilabana, Florida Sumatra, imported 

 Sumatra, and Porto Rico seed were sown, each in a separate bed, 

 half with shade and half without. The records show that the seeds 

 in the shaded portion of the beds came up from two to four days 

 earlier than those in the unshaded i)ortion. 



After the plants were all well up the straw shades were removed 

 for a short time each day early in the morning and late iu the after- 

 noon. The time of exposure was graduallj' increased, and eventually 

 the plants were shaded only from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. A few days 

 befoi'e transplanting to the fields the shade was removed and the 

 jjlants exposed throughout the day in order to toughen them and 



