23 



they studied bow to remedy tbeni; if good points were observed, they 

 studied to tiud bow they were obtained. Each year there were a num- 

 ber of small experimental plots on which different kinds of soil were 

 tested, different fertilizers used, and different methods of cultivation 

 employed. The tobacco of each plot was harvested at different stages 

 of growth — ripe, overripe, and underripe. In the curing shed this 

 experiment was continued. If there wtre four experimental crops, they 

 were cured in four different barns and a part of the tobacco from each 

 plot put in each barn. 



For convenience, we will c ill the four plots A, B, C, and D and the 

 barns or curing sbeds 1, 2, 3, and 4. In each barn we have tobacco 

 from the four i)lots, and each barn receives different manipulation. 

 The tobacco from each barn was marked so that it could be easily iden- 

 tified, and when thoroughly cured its quality was tested. It can be 

 seen at once that such a method of experimenting is practicable. We 

 will say that all of the tobacco in barn No. 2 made the best showing 

 and that the tobacco from plot A was the most desirable. Therefore 

 we would imturally assume that the soil, fertilizer, and method of cul- 

 tivation of plot A was the best and the management of barn No. 2 

 was the nearest correct. We could also determine at what stage of 

 ripeness the tobacco should be harvested in order to obtain the best 

 results. This final test can not be made, however, until the tobacco 

 has been carried through the process of fermentation and all the quali- 

 ties of the leaf thoroughly developed. 



COST OF GROWING TOBACCO IN FLORIDA. 



The following figures will undoubtedly surprise many not acquainted 

 with the growing of tobacco in Florida. The cost per pound of the 

 tobacco produced will seem exceedingly high. However, the figures 

 are in every way conservative, and the experience of the large growers 

 of tobacco in Florida will not disprove their correctness. In the first 

 place, in order to grow 100 acres of tobacco each year it is necessary 

 to have a farm containing at least 500 acres, as it is not considered 

 desirable to plant the same field in tobacco for more than two or three 

 consecutive years. These lands should be planted in other crops or 

 allowed to rest for three or four years : so every two or three years the 

 locality of the tobacco fields should be changed. On this point all 

 farmers (I mean successful farmers) do not agree. Still, it is the opinion 

 and practice of a majority of the successful farmers to rotate their 

 crops, tobacco being the main crop for which the plantation is equipped. 

 The fields planted in tobacco should be followed by such other crop as 

 will tend to improve rather than to impov^erish the land. Usually 

 corn is planted, and when giving the corn the last plowing the field is 

 sown in cowpeas. The writer has known fields to be greatly improved 

 by the planting of these crops where no fertilizers were used. As soon 

 as the corn is harvested and the pea vines begin to die they should be 



