CONNECTICUT HAVANA TOBACCO. 25 



the plants by dusting through a perforated tin box, or in some cases a 

 small fertilizer sower is used for this purpose. 



In transplanting the young plants from the seed bed it is desirable 

 to make a selection of the best and most vigorous plants. At this 

 early stage of growth the differences in shape of leaf can be detected 

 by an inspection of the seedlings. For the Havana Seed variety the 

 plants should be set in rows 3 feet 3 inches apart, and the plants should 

 be set 18 inches apart in the row. If the plants are set by hand great 

 care should be used not to bend or otherwise injure the roots of the 

 young plants, as such injury ma}^ result in a diseased condition of the 

 plant, making it almost worthless for wrapper purposes. 



In cultivating the field a shallow or surface cultivator should be 

 used and the soil kept stirred frequently in order to conserve soil 

 moisture, as well as to remove all weeds. It is usually found neces- 

 sary to hoe the field once or twice during the early stages of growth 

 in order to remove all of the weeds and to loosen the soil around the 

 young plants and keep it in the best possible condition for their most 

 favorable growth. 



'When the plants begin to bud all except the individual plants saved 

 for seed purposes should be topped. No very definite rule can be 

 given for this process, but it is the custom to break the tops off the 

 plants just below the first seed sucker. As a rule the height of top- 

 ping must be governed by local conditions, such as the soil fertility 

 and the season. In most cases two or three of the top leaves are 

 removed in topping. It is necessary to remove the suckers before 

 they reach sufficient size to seriously injure or dwarf the plant or inter- 

 fere with the development of the leaves. It will usually be found 

 necessary to remove the suckers two or three times during the season 

 in order to keep the plants free from these injurious branches. 



It has been found in the tobacco-breeding investigations that by 

 selecting seed from plants having few suckers, sucker-resistant types of 

 tobacco can be secured, and it is recommended that in the case of all of 

 the wrapper varieties of tobacco, particularly the Havana Seed tobacco, 

 such a plan of seed selection be followed. In saving seed from care- 

 fully selected plants the flower clusters should be covered with a light 

 and strong paper bag before any of the blossoms open, in order to 

 prevent accidental cross-fertilization. These bags should be of light 

 but strong paper, and should be kept in good condition and moved up 

 the stalks occasionally so as not to allow the bags to injure the tops of 

 the plants in any way. These bags should remain over the seed head 

 until all of the flowers that are to be used for seed-saving purposes 

 have been fertilized, after which the bags can be removed and the seed 

 allowed to mature in the open. 



The time for harvesting this variety of tobacco varies with the sea- 

 son, but the ripeness of the leaves can be distinguished by the devel- 



