rjlE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 3 



a ,yelli)W field, and un this exposed puitiim the tobacco pioduced 

 will be of a daikei' colour-. Veiy rich soils that will produce a 

 large leaf will usually produce a tobacco of poor ciuality. 



An attempt to produce a tobacco on a r.i ;1 not suited to the 

 type of tobacco planted will, in most cases, meet with failure, for 

 the tobacco produced is unfit to place in the same class as the 

 parent plant, and at the same time it is not likely to grade with 

 any other established type, and as a result is unclassed. and sells 

 as nondescript. It is only the exceptional case where a new type 

 is thus established worthy to create a market on its own mei'its. 

 Seed of the dai-k export varieties of toljaccos, if planted on the 

 light soils adapted to the yellow tobaccos, will not be bright enough 

 to class with those tobaccos, nor dark enough to class with the 

 expjor-ts, and furthermor'e, the yield will not be as heavy as it would 

 Vie if the varieties had been planted on their own heavy soil. 



The White Burley tobacco of Kentucky is grown on a well- 

 drained deep red soil, the surface of which is of a light loam}- 

 character, and not likely to clod when properly worked. These 

 lands are fairly rich in lime, and produce almost ideal crops of 

 maize, wheat, hemp and grass. The subsoil contains about 30 per 

 cent, of clay, and has a moisture content of about 20 per cent. 



The Bright tobacco lands of Vir-ginia and North and South 

 Carolina consist of sand of varying density. This soil contains not 

 more than 8 to 10 per cent, of clay, and is usually underlaid with 

 a red oi' yellow c\a,y subsoil, at a depth of about a foot. The 

 deeper- the sand, the brighter the toliacco produced, and the nearer- 

 the surface that the sulisoil comes, the more inclined the ti.'bacco 

 is to darken and be mahogany in colour, until where the subsoil is 

 completely exposed, the tobacco produced is altogether dark. How- 

 ever, where the sand is very deep, there is not the sanre surety of 

 a sufficient supply i')f nroisture dui-ing the growing season, and for 

 this reason it is preferred that the subsoil be within 18 inches of 

 the sur-face. 



The heavv dark export types of tobacc-o produced in Tennessee 

 and Kentucky are growia on a rich well-drairred soil, containing 

 aliout oO per cent, of silt, 2.3 per- cent, of clay, and have an average 

 nroisture conterrt of 1.5 per- c-errt. These lancls are underlaid with a 

 red clay subsoil, and are fairly well supplied with lime. They produce 

 hea'^-;^' crops, but deterior-ate rapidly, unless the land is kepit up to its 

 original condition, liy the addition of fertrlizer-s or by methods of 

 cultivatiorr. 



The cigar leaf lands of Corrnecticut consist of light, alluvial, 

 sandy soils containing a small percentage of clay, and, as a rule, 

 the less the percentage of clay the greater the per-centage of firre cigar 

 wrapj^ers. A few years ago, when a dai-ker coloured cigar was the 

 fashion, this class of land was not used, but a much heavier soil, 

 with a moistnr-e-lioldirrg average of from 2.5 to 27 per cent., was 

 cultivated, wher-eas the soil now used for the production of Irght 

 wrappjers has a moisture content of but 7 per cent. Where cigar 

 filler leaf is grown, and the colour, texture, and elasticity are not 

 poirrts so important as with the wrappers, a rich clay is used, and 

 a very heavy crop of leaf secured. The Sumatra seed tobacco is 

 produced in this section on the lighter- soils. 



In the cigar leaf sectirm of (Jhio no attempt is made to jjro- 

 duce anything" but a tiller tobacco. The soil that produces the 



