I04 The Soverane Herbe 



all the nutriment in the plant. The great object the 

 planter has in view is the production of well-d^eloped 

 leaves, and to this end his constant care is to con- 

 centrate all the energies of the plant in their pro- 

 duction by the ruthless nipping in the bud of all its 

 superfluous attempts to flower, to grow to a great 

 height, or to propagate itself. In the old days of 

 Virginia a custom sprang up of resetting fields with 

 these suckers ; the tobacco thus grown was naturally 

 poor in quality, as the soil could not produce a first- 

 class double crop. In order to preserve and maintain 

 the high standard of their tobacco the planters pro- 

 hibited the practice, enacting that crops from suckers 

 should be destroyed by the officers of the law. Its 

 enforcement was rarely necessary, for the good name 

 of their tobacco — the word ' Virginian ' being a warrant 

 for quality — was too valuable to be tampered with. 



The leaves of the tobacco plant naturally grow in 

 three grades. Those nearest the roots are the 

 strongest, since they have the first call upon the sap 

 of the plant ; leaves half way up the stem are of 

 medium strength, while the topmost are the mildest. 

 Hence the planter obtains a strong, medium or mild 

 crop, as he requires, by pruning the plant at any 

 part. To obtain strong and full-flavoured tobacco he 

 snips off the upper leaves ; the removal of the lower 

 ones gives him a crop of medium strength. When 

 leaves of a uniform quality and strength are required 

 the plant is allowed to grow untouched. First the 

 lowest leaves are gathered, and for eight or ten days 

 the whole strength of the plant is directed to the 

 improvement of the remaining higher leaves. When 



