36 VARIETIES OF TOBACCO SEED DISTRIBUTED IN 1905-6. 



number of leaves and few suckers. The grower should decide in his 

 own mind on the type of plant which he desires to grow for his crop 

 and should carefully select those plants in the field which most nearly 

 fulfill this ideal. 



The flower head on the selected seed plants should be inclosed with 

 a light but strong paper bag just before the flowers begin to open. 

 The proper time to apply the bag is shown in Plate VII, figure 1, and 

 the arrangement of bags is shown in Plate VII, figure 2. it is usu- 

 ally a good plan to remove two or three of the top leaves and suckers 

 just below the flower head. The bag should be tied around the stem 

 in such a way as not to interfere with the growth. It will be found 

 that at this period of growth the plant increases in height very rapidly, 

 and it will be necessary to raise the bag occasionally in order to pre- 

 vent, the flower head from pushing out through the bottom of the bag. 

 For most varieties a 12-pound bag is the most desirable size. This 

 bag should be of strong but light material. The ordinary paper bag 

 found at any grocery store may be satisfactory for this purpose. 



When the seed pods have turned brown, indicating maturity, the 

 entire top of the plant should be cut off. The bag should be opened 

 and all of the small and late pods picked off and only the large, heavy, 

 plump, and well-developed seed pods allowed to remain. The bag 

 should then be replaced and the seed head hung up in a dr} T place 

 where there is a free circulation of air, such as the attic of a house, 

 until the seed pods are thoroughly dried. After this the pods should 

 be picked off from the stem and the seed shelled out. After the seed 

 has been secured, all of the light seed, hulls, and chaff should be 

 removed by the use of a seed separator, as shown in Plate IV, figure 1, 

 or by some form of air-blast machine adapted for this purpose, and 

 only the heavy seed should be retained for planting. The heavy seed 

 should then be placed in dry glass jars and set in a safe place. In 

 this condition the seed will retain its vitality unimpaired for a long- 

 period. 



In man}^ cases it ma}^ be desired to cross an imported with a native 

 variety. The object of such crosses is to secure the improved quality 

 of the imported strains, combined with the hardiness and yielding power 

 of the native varieties. In the case of tobacco snch crosses are easily 

 made by the grower. The tobacco plant has a perfectly self -fertile 

 and complete flower, but is easily cross-fertilized. In order to prepare 

 the flower for cross-fertilization, the anthers should be removed from 

 the selected flowers shortly before they open and discharge their pol- 

 len. The arrangement of the parts of the tobacco flower at different 

 stages of maturity is shown in Plate VIII, figure 1. The opened flower 

 in the lower right-hand corner shows the proper stage for the removal 

 of the anthers. After an examination of a number of flowers in the 

 field the grower can easily observe the proper time to remove the 



