INTRODUCTION AND ACCLIMATIZATION OP VARIETIES. 



15 



a high-grade cigar wrapper tobacco. However, many of the types 

 of plants iDroduced long, narrow, coarse, pointed leaves, wholly 

 unsuited for cigar wrapper manufacture. In the case of another 

 inferior type it was found that the leaves would not burn, altho 

 the remaining characters were those of a desirable grade of tobacco. 

 It -was impossible to sort out this type, even by the most careful 

 inspection of the crop, and, as a result, when the manufacturers 

 wrapt cigars with leaves of this type and found that the wrapper 

 would not burn, the quality of the entire crop was condemned. 

 Certain other types of plants produced leaves of such thin texture 

 or light body that when wrapt on cigars and allowed to dry out the 

 wrapper frequently broke, or when 

 the consumer carried the cigars in 

 his pocket the wrappers were easily 

 injured. 



One of the most striking types of 

 plants produced in the crops grown 

 from this imported seed was the 

 Belgian type, an illustration of 

 which is shown in figure 1. In this 

 case the plants bore leaves measur- 

 ing from 30 to 46 inches long and 

 only from 5 to 10 inches wide. 

 These leaves, as shown in figure 2, 

 were very pointed in shape, with 

 coarse, angular veins, and as the 

 cured tobacco lacked the appearance 

 necessary for a cigar-wrapper to- 

 bacco its production was a total 

 loss to the growers. The variation 

 in type was accompanied by differ- 

 ences in time of maturity, so that 

 the cost of the growing and har- 

 vesting of these crops was greater than in the case of uniform 

 crops. The mixture of types was accompanied by great variation as 

 regards the individual plants of each type. In many cases plants 

 bearing 25 leaves were found growing by the side of plants pro- 

 ducing 10 leaves. Marked variations in size and shape of leaves 

 and in the number of suckers borne by the individual plants were 

 observed, and as a result it was found that the comparatively small 

 number of desirable types could not make up for the loss in the pro- 

 duction of undesirable and worthless grades of tobacco. As a nat- 

 ural consequence of this condition the extensive culture of this vari- 

 ety of tobacco from imported seed has been abandoned, and the grow- 



Fig. 1.— Belgian type of Connecticut Suma- 

 tra tobacco plant. These long, narrow 

 leaves with oblique veins, coarse texture, 

 burn very poorly, and after curing light 

 green color are almost absolutely worth- 

 less for cigar-wrapper purposes. This type 

 appeared in crops grown in the Connecti- 

 cut Valley from Florida-grown Sumatra 

 seed. 



