﻿THE CULTURE OP FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. 27 



Tobacco at various stages of its growth is subject to the attacks 

 of a number of insect enemies, for a list of which, with recommenda- 

 tions for controlling them, the reader is referred to Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin 120 and to circulars 123 and 173 of the Bureau of Entomology. 



TOPPING AND SUCKERING. 



In about eight or nine weeks after transplanting, in seasons of 

 normal growth, the tobacco plants will begin to show signs of sending 

 up a seed head, " buttoning out," as it is called. The topping season 

 is now at hand. In topping, the aim is to improve the quality of the 

 leaves produced and to aid the different plants in maturing at the 

 same time. Experience and judgment are necessary in this impor- 

 tant operation. From 8 to 12 or more leaves, excluding undeveloped 

 leaves at the bottom, are commonly left to mature on each plant. 

 Primarily, the number of leaves that should be left depends upon 

 the richness of the soil and the vigor of the plant. If the plant 

 is topped too low the yield will be unnecessarily sacrificed and the 

 remaining leaves will be coarse and overgrown. Sometimes in the 

 Old Belt section some of the inferior bottom leaves are primed 

 (broken) off and discarded at the time of topping the plant. In the 

 New Belt, where harvesting by picking the leaves is general, it is 

 customary to top somewhat higher than in the Old Belt, often to as 

 many as 16 or 18 leaves. 



The time required for a plant to mature depends somewhat on the 

 number of leaves left on it. In order to bring as many plants as 

 possible to a uniform state of ripeness at one time it is customary to 

 let the bud come out somewhat higher and to top to more leaves at 

 first and then to one or two less each subsequent time the field is gone 

 over. 



Soon after the plants are topped, suckers will begin to grow from 

 the axils of the leaves. The first suckers will appear at the top of 

 the plant, and so on downward as the upper ones are broken off. 

 Two full sets of suckers will usually grow on a plant, but it will be 

 necessary to go over the field as many as five or six times at intervals 

 of about one week in order to get them all. The whole object of 

 topping will be defeated if these suckers are allowed to grow, and 

 generally they should not be permitted to get more than about 4 

 inches long before they are removed. Sometimes, however, when a 

 period of wet weather comes just as the tobacco should be getting 

 ripe, it may be of advantage to let the suckers alone temporarily, as 

 their growth will tend to absorb the energies of the plant and pre- 

 vent the leaves from taking on a second growth, which would make 

 them coarse and dark. 



