TOBACCO INVESTIGATIONS. 19. 



however, have not new land that is suitable for tobacco, and cannot extend 

 their activities in this manner, so of necessity they must confine their 

 attention to keeping their tobacco fields in good tobacco condition by 

 careful methods of fertilization. 



Mere weight should not be the aim of the grower,. as eventually this 

 will lower the standard of Massachusetts tobacco. It is a well-recog- 

 nized fact that hea\y, rank tobacco is not, year in and year out, in demand 

 by the manufacturers, and the aim should be to produce a fair weight of 

 tobacco which has quality. A satisfactory price must be obtained for 

 such a product, and it is due to the low price paid, more than to any other 

 single factor, that the growers are striving to increase the weight of the 

 crop. The cost of production is so great in Massachusetts that to secure 

 adequate returns we must continue to grow a wrapper crop of good 

 quality. 



To return to the question of soil reaction and the practice of liming, 

 it might be well to emphasize again the data collected by Mr. Beals of 

 this station in 1914 {loc. cit.). 



It is true that some growers have been using lime more or less continu- 

 ously for some time, and are still producing excellent crops of tobacco, 

 but this is the exception, and other factors — such as soil composition, 

 organic matter supplied, etc. — are more or less responsible for the success 

 of these men. 



Humus or Organic Matter Content of Massachusetts Tobacco Soils. 



The soils reported in Table II were analyzed for humus content by the 

 method of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists ^ as modified 

 by Rather,^ and a somewhat wide divergence in humus content was 

 found, as might be expected. There were found some indications of a 

 relationship between humus content and crop condition, as well as "lime 

 requirement." Low humus content was more often associated with low 

 acidity and poor crop condition. It may be safely stated that many 

 of the soils producing poor crops are deficient in humus. Usually the 

 presence of an optimum amount of humus or organic matter in a soil 

 is considered an essential to crop production, but whether the quality of 

 the leaf is injured or not by large amounts of humus in the case of tobacco 

 is of importance. Growth and weight, without quality, are not to be 

 desired. The question of the addition of humus to soils, found markedly 

 deficient in this substance, is one which will bear investigation. Where 

 it is found necessary to supply humus, we have the choice of crop rotation 

 or cover-cropping and manuring, and, as most growers feel that they 

 cannot practice extensive rotation with profit, cover-cropping and manur- 

 ing would appear to be the only satisfactory solution of the matter so 

 far as the question of humus is concerned. Whether, as some firmly 



1 Official and Provisional Methods of Analysis. V. S. D. A., Bureau of Chemistry, Bulletin 

 No. 107. 



» Rather, J. B. Texas Bulletin No. 139. May, 1911, pp. 10-15. 



