TOBACCO CULTURE IN THE WEST INDIES 21 
The small seedlings are subject to the attack of a very 
small insect, (a flea beetle), for which they should be spray- 
ed with a mixture of one pound of arsenate of lead to 15 
gallons of water. The same remedy may be used success- 
fully for catterpillars and is preferable to Paris Green. 
SHADE 
The importance of cloth shade for tobacco fields is 
universally recognized. The value of a wrapper leaf is in 
its size, texture and freedom from blemishes, and shade 
grown tobacco possesses these merits much more than the 
tobacco grown in the open, but the flavor is less desirable 
and the filler leaves from a shaded field are worth less than 
if no shade had been used. The shade consists of a cloth, 
known as tobacco cloth, stretched over wires supported by 
wooden posts set in the ground. The method of erecting this 
structure varies, but one of the best that we have seen was 
at Pinar del Rio and the owner furnished us with the 
following data regarding material necessary for a shed 
covering ten acres: 
1,870 posts 9 feet long (24 or 3X4 or round na- 
tive posts). 
200 Hard wood stakes or stone deadmen. 
3,000 lineal feet of boards 114 inch X 4 inches. 
3,000 ” mo” ” 1 ” x 6 ” 
(1) 3,000 pounds No. 10 soft galvanized wire. 
(1) 50,000 square yard of cloth. 
(1) In Cuba wire costs about $4.50 per 100 lbs. and cloth 3 
sents per square yard. 
