8 



ment of the seedhead. This operation should be 

 repeated once a week for two or three weeks. When 

 most of the seed capsules are turned brown indicating 

 maturity, it is desirable to remove the bag, and cut off 

 all the late flowers, flower-heads, and poorly developed 

 capsules, leaving only the largest and best to mature 

 seed. The bag should be replaced after this is done, and 

 allowed to remain until the stalks have been cut and 

 dried out. During the process of drving, the bags serve 

 as a protection, and catch anv seeds which may fall out. 



It has been found that heavy tobacco seeds produce 

 like other agricultural seeds more vigorous and product- 

 ive plants than lighter seeds. This is because the 

 heavy seed has a perfect embryo or plantlet in it and a 

 large supply of available plant-food. Notwithstanding 

 the exceedingly minute size of tobacco seed, the writer 

 has seen that in the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture at Washington, D.C., a perfect separation of the 

 tobacco seed into light and heavy grades is effected by 

 means of a separator consisting of a glass tube one inch 

 in diameter and five feet long, and a glass receptacle for 

 holding the seed, having the diameter of the long glass 

 tube. The receptacle is so arranged with a finely woven 

 wire screen in the bottom as to hold the seed in the recept- 

 acle, and at the same time fullv admit a current of air 

 directly into the seed. The top of the receptacle is fitted 

 with a coupling into which the long glass tube can be set 

 and held in place. The current of air is generated bv a 

 common foot-bellows, and regulated with a valxe inserted 

 into the receptacle, and connected to the bellows with a 

 rubber tube. The seed to be separated is poured into 

 the receptacle, usnallv about one to two ounces at a time, 

 the glass tube set in place, and a current of air pumped 



