TOBACCO. 



ceeded "with the varieties of tobacco they planted, when there was mainly but one 

 type — the dark shipping — but taste and fashion change, new types are wanted 

 and new varieties suited to ihese types, and planters who meet the demand are 

 "those Avho make the most money by tobacco planting. 



Where is the successful farmer who now sows the old wheats once used by 

 his ancestors? Look at the improvement in varieties in vegetables, fruits, farm 

 and horticultural, in the past century. Seeds, like animals, are greatly improved 

 by propagation of selections and judicious crossing; and especially is this true as ' 

 regards the improvement of seeds, when carried on under the most favoring con-*! 

 ditiona of development as to soil, climate, and cultivation. Virginia is the home 

 of the tdaacco plant, and here it develops to the highest perfection, and, conse- 

 quently, here have originated the best and finest varieties. She grows now all 

 the types used in plug tobacco and for pipes and cigarettes; and she has some' 

 sixteen hundred square miles of soil suited to another type — cigar tobacco — andj 

 these soils lie mainly in the Piedmont country, where our people are striving loj 

 compete with the West in growing grain. Here is an opportunity that ought to 

 be improved. ^ 



It is a recognized fact that where any flora develops to greatest perfection,"^ 

 there is where the " best" seed can be grown. It would pay planters in the South' 

 and West, who grow the yellow and dark export types, to get their seeds every 

 year from Virginia, as market gardeners get seeds from localities where the several 

 varieties develop to greatest perfection, rather than grow their supplies at lower 

 cost, but under less favoring conditions, as to adaptability of soil, climate, &c. 

 They know where to get the best, and are aware of the tendency to degeneration 

 in seeds generally, and the importance of " a frequent recurrence to first princi- 

 ples," to promote healthy normal growth and maturity. 



Planters have no excuse for using poor seeds when peaigree seeds of all types 

 may be so cheaply procured. The cost of tobacco seed per acre ranges from tea 

 to twenty cents — ^the cost of seed of no other farm crop is so little. 



VARIETIES FOE SPECIFIC TYPES. 



We will premise by stating that only an approximate guide may be given for 

 the selection of varieties suited to the several types. The variation in soil and 

 climate in different localities greatly modify the selection. For what is best ia 

 some localities is not best in others; and trial, at last, must determine what is 

 best in every ease. When this is found, it is well to stick to it and plant mainly 

 of this variety, and sparingly of others until a better is found, if possible. 



VARIETIES SUITED FOR THE VARIOUS TYPES. 



For dark, rich "shipping," nothing has been found superior to the following: 

 James River Blue Pryor, Lacks or Beat- All and Medley Pryor. 



For sweet fillers : Sweet Oronoko and Flanagan. 



For stemming: Long Leaf and Broad Leaf Gooch, Hester, Tuckahoe, Big 

 Oronoko, and Lacks. 



For mahogany wrappers: Tuckahoe, Sweet Oronoko, Flanagan, Primus, 

 Long Leaf Gooch, and White Stem. 



For cutters : Hyco, White-stem Oronoko, Yellow Oronoko, Granville Yellow* 

 Sterling, Lacks, Yellow Pryor, and Hester. 



