TOBACCO 525 



on the reddish soils described as Cecil sandy loam and 

 Cecil clay. 



Cuban cigar tobacco thrives best on gray sandy soils 

 and on the Orangeburg series, consisting of a fine sandy 

 loam, or clay loam, mth stiffer, reddish clay-loam subsoil. 



For Sumatra tobacco in Floi:ida, graj^, sandy, hammock 

 land, new and rich, is preferred. There are many other 

 special kinds of soil suited to particular types of tobacco. 



512. Fertilizers. — As shown before, tobacco removes 

 from the soil a large amount of potash and nitrogen. For 

 this and for many other reasons (including the desirability 

 that the plant should make a rajjid and continuous growth), 

 tobacco is liberally fertihzed. The chief reliance is on 

 commercial fertiUzers. 



The form in which potash is applied is especially im- 

 portant. Muriate of potash and kainit should both be 

 avoided, because of the large amount of chlorine found in 

 both, which element is unfavorable to the iDurning quali- 

 ties and other properties of tobacco. Instead, potash is 

 best apphed in the form of carbonate or sulfate of potash. 



513. Nitrogen supply. — Nitrogen may be apphed in 

 several forms : Organic nitrogen, supplied by cotton-seed 

 meal, dried blood, etc., is a preferred form. Nitrate of 

 soda is also used in moderate amounts. A mixture of 

 organic nitrogen and of nitrate of soda is apparently 

 preferable to either alone. Barnyard manure usually 

 makes the leaf coarser than it would othermse be; yet 

 cow manure has been advised for shade-gro^vn Sumatra 

 tobacco in Florida, especially with the view to supplying 

 humus and making the growth of the root system so rapid 

 as to cause the production of new roots more rapidly than 



