MATURATION . 445 
the junction of the leaves with the stem, and about the root 
of the plant and if these suckers are permitted to grow, they 
SUCKERING. 
injure the marketable quality of the tobacco by compelling a 
division of its nutriment during the act of maturation. e 
planter is therefore careful to destroy these intruders with the 
thumb-nail as in the act of topping, and this process is termed 
suckering. ” 
After this operation is performed the planter ascertains in 
regard to the 
RIPENING OF THE PLANTS. 
As soon as the plants are fully ripe they not only take on 
a different hue but give evidence of decay. The leaves as 
they ripen bécome rougher and thicker, assume a tint of 
yellowish green and are frequently mottled with yellow spots. 
The tobacco grower has two signs which he regards as “ infal- 
lible” in thismatter. One is that on pinching the under part 
of the leaf together, if ripe it will crack or break ; the other 
isthe growth of suckers to be found (if ripe) around the 
base of the stalk. 
Tatham says :— 
“Much practice is requisite to form a judicious discern- 
ment concerning the state and progress of the ripening leaf; 
