DIRECTIONS FOR SAVING SEED. 35 



saved under bag is illustrated in Plate IX, figure 1. The two rows 

 shown in this illustration are from the seed of two plants of different 

 types and all of the progeny are like the parents. The second season 

 it is a good plan to increase the area of plants grown from seed saved 

 under bag, and from the most desirable plants in this crop selections 

 of seed can be made for future general crops. If the crop during the 

 second season shows uniformity of a desirable type, it is advisable to 

 save a large quantity of seed under bag — if possible, sufficient to plant 

 several succeeding crops— in order to provide for a possible failure of 

 seed production in future seasons. Inasmuch as tobacco seed when 

 properly cared for will retain its vitality for from 10 to 20 years, this 

 seed can be safety used, if necessary, for 5 years. The best practice, 

 however, is to save the seed for the following year's crop every sea- 

 son unless some accident should greatly injure the crop. 



The grower of all new varieties of seed should test them on a small 

 area before using them for his entire crop. In some cases new seed, 

 when grown under conditions different from those under which the 

 seed was produced, develops plants which are subject to fungous dis- 

 eases or insect enemies in the new conditions. Therefore it is a wise 

 plan to grow a small area of tobacco the first season and observe the 

 plants carefully in respect to the presence of fungous or other diseases 

 before using them in large fields. In other cases certain fungous dis- 

 eases are present in the soil, which attack and destroy 7 the varieties 

 imported from other regions. In most cases resistant plants can be 

 found in fields affected b} 7 these diseases. The structure or habit of 

 growth of these resistant plants is such as to make them immune to 

 these attacks. The seed of resistant plants should be saved under bag 

 and used for the next year's planting. In this way resistant strains of 

 tobacco which will prove to be immune to the attacks of the various 

 diseases ma} T be secured. 



In selecting seed plants several important facts should be taken into 

 consideration. All the plants in the field should be carefully studied 

 and observations made on the shape of the leaf of the different plants, 

 on the variations in size and color of leaves, and on the time of matu- 

 rity of individual plants in the field. 



Plate VIII, figure 2, shows two strains of Connecticut Broadleaf, 

 the larger one from an early parent and the other from a late parent. 

 The number of leaves and the number of suckers should be counted 

 on many plants in the field from which seed is to be saved, in order 

 that an accurate idea may be gained of the extent of variation in the 

 variety as regards these points. As a rule, there is a great variation 

 in all of the important characters which go to make up the type of 

 plants, and individual plants will be found which have desirable shape, 

 size, and color of leaf, which mature early and have an extra large 



