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similar to that of Kentucky, Maryland, Connecticut and 

 Virginia, parts of Victoria resembling in climate very much 

 these countries. Frost is detrimental to the Tobacco-plant ; 

 not only particularly when young must it be guarded against 

 it, but frost will also injure the ripe crop. Mr. Politz con- 

 siders the scarcity of dew in some of our districts to militate 

 against the production of the best kinds, otherwise the yield 

 as a rule is large, and the soil in many places well adapted 

 for this culture. Leaves of large size are frequently 

 obtained. The moister and warmer northern and eastern 

 regions of our Colony are likely to produce the best 

 Tobacco, if the final preparation of the leaf for the manu- 

 facturer is effected by experienced skill. The cruder kinds 

 are obtained with ease, and so leaves for covering cigars. 

 Virgin soil with rich loam is the best for Tobacco-culture, 

 and such soil should also contain a fair proportion of lime 

 and potash, or should be enriched with a calcareous manure 

 and ashes, or with well decomposed stable manure. The seed- 

 lings, two months or less old, are transplanted. When the 

 plants are coming into flower the leading top-shoots are 

 nipped off, and the young shoots must also be broken off. 

 A few weeks afterwards the leaves will turn to a greenish 

 yellow, which is a sign that the plants are fit to be cut, or 

 that the ripe leaves can gradually be pulled. In the former 

 case the stems are split ; the drying is then effected in barns 

 by suspension from sticks across beams. The drying pro- 

 cess occupies four or five weeks and may need to be assisted 

 by artificial heat. Stripped of the stalks the leaf-blades are 

 then tied into bundles to undergo sweating or a kind of 

 slight fermentation. It does not answer to continue 

 tobacco-culture beyond two years on the same soil uninter- 

 ruptedly. A prominent variety is Nicotiana latissima, 

 Miller, or N. macrophylla, Lehm., yielding largely the 

 Chinese, the Orinoco and the Maryland Tobacco. The 

 dangerously powerful Nicotin, a volatile acrid alkaline oily 

 liquid, and Nicotianin, a bitter aromatic lamellar substance, 

 are both derived from Tobacco in all its parts and are thera- 

 peutic agents. 



