THE CULTURE OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. eh 
Potash, ike ammonia, improves the body of the leaf, and it has 
a decided value in tending to diminish or prevent “ diseasing ” or 
“specking.” On the light, sandy soils of the New Belt section 
especially, potash should be apphed much more liberally than is now 
the general custom. : 
Phosphoric acid may be considered the most generally needed 
plant-food material throughout the tobacco-growing region under 
consideration. It not only increases growth but hastens maturity, 
and also strongly tends to brighten the color because of its decided 
effect in ripening the leaf. By reason of this specific effect in thus 
improving the quality phosphoric acid should be used liberally in 
the tobacco fertilizer, particularly on the better improved soils, 
which, from an accumulation of nitrogenous materials, might tend 
to produce a dark, coarse leaf. On the other hand, some caution 
should be exercised not to use it excessively on unimproved very 
light soils. On such soils there is natural danger from premature 
ripening, or “ firing,” as it 1s usually called, and such tendency would 
be increased by an excessive application of phosphoric acid, though 
increasing the ammonia supplied in the fertilizer or otherwise would 
tend to overcome this difficulty with probable increased growth as 
well. This largely explains why the turning under of a leguminous 
crop immediately preceding tobacco on such unimproved very sandy 
soils may sometimes result in positive benefit. 
Generally speaking, phosphates (except as just indicated) and 
potash may be used freely on flue-cured tobacco without injury to 
the quality, but it requires nice adjustment of the ammonia supply 
to give the best results. As stated, too lttle will make a “ poor,” 
thin tobacco of small growth, while too much will tend to make the 
tobacco dark, coarse, and rank smelling. Ammonia in the soil comes 
almost entirely from decaying vegetable matter or manure, and the 
quantity of ammonia to be used in the fertilizer will depend largely 
on how much may be expected from these sources in the soil. A crop 
of 1,000 pounds of tobacco to the acre, to produce the leaf, stalk, and 
roots, will need to assimilate about 75 pounds of ammonia (equiva- 
lent to approximately 62 pounds of nitrogen). On poorly improved 
sandy soils, generally producing around 600 pounds of tobacco to 
the acre under ordinary fertilization (say, 500 pounds of 3-8-3 fer- 
tilizer to the acre), the yield and quality generally could be improved 
greatly and the crop made more profitable by using an increased 
amount of ammonia in the fertilizer. On such a soil, out of the 
75 pounds of ammonia necessary to produce a 1,000-pound crop it 
would not be unreasonable to supply in the fertilizer 40 or 50 pounds 
of this material (equivalent to 250 or 300 pounds of 16 per cent 
dried blood), 
