﻿THE CULTURE OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. 5 



there is an accumulation of readily available plant food ; the tobacco 

 grows quickly, matures and ripens early, and cures well. In the Old 

 Belt, therefore, where much of the soil tends to be too strong and 

 clayey, a given soil, perhaps, will produce a crop of good color and 

 quality when it is " fresh," but will not do so after it has been under 

 cultivation for a number of years. But in the case of the light soils 

 in the Coastal Plain section, those which have been longer under 

 cultivation are preferable because the " fresh " land will make the 

 leaves too thin and lifeless and the bottom leaves will begin to waste 

 away prematurely. 



CROP ROTATION SYSTEMS. 



Aside from the natural character of the soil itself, there is no more 

 important matter for the tobacco grower to consider than the man- 

 agement of;» his fields, so that in regular order they will be in the 

 best shape for tobacco at the proper time. Indeed, the character of 

 the tobacco produced will depend quite as much on how the fields 

 have been handled in rotation between the successive tobacco crops 

 as upon the fertilizer used or the cultivation given directly to the 

 tobacco crop itself. 



IMPORTANCE OF HUMUS IN THE SOIL. 



Tobacco land should be so handled as to be kept in good life. A 

 liberal supply of vegetable matter in an advanced stage of decay is 

 highly desirable, but it should be of a kind not excessively rich in 

 ammonia. For this reason the clovers, cowpeas, and other legumes, 

 except in a limited way, generally can not be used with satisfac- 

 tion preceding tobacco unless removed some two or three years from 

 the tobacco, and on the stronger lands of the Old Belt section it 

 would probably be best in most cases to omit them from the rotation 

 altogether. Large quantities of slow-acting organic ammoniates tend 

 decidedly against fineness, sweetness, and color. 



It is well known that the organic matter of freshly cleared or 

 broom-straw fields is of a kind well suited to tobacco. It consists 

 principally of dead leaves, twigs, roots, pine tags, or broom straw and 

 roots. Such vegetable matter, while poor in ammonia, by its ample 

 volume makes the soil very mellow and friable and of good water- 

 holding capacity. The weed growth that comes in spontaneously on 

 the so-called rested fields is also generally of a kind suited to turn 

 under as a source of vegetable matter for tobacco soils. 



Supplying the necessary humus in this way perhaps may be con- 

 sidered satisfactory from the standpoint of the tobacco itself. In 

 several other respects, however, it is very unsatisfactory. The rested 

 field system of farming, if it may be called a system, means that a 



