36 



tine, and states that the percentage of nicotine is materially increased 

 by the use of large quantities of nitrogenous fertilizers. Nicotine was 

 not found to be an important factor in affecting the burning quality of 

 tobacco. It is stated that the nicotine content of tobacco leaf is materi- 

 ally reduced in the process of fermentation, but no figures are given 

 to show to what extent this reduction takes place. 



The Connecticut State Station x found that the nicotine content was 

 reduced by fermentation from 2.5 to 1.62 per cent in upper leaves, 

 from .77 to .11 per cent in short seconds, and from 1.25 to 1.05 per 

 cent in first- wrapper leaves. 



ARSENIC IN SPRAYED TOBACCO. 



The presence of arsenic in tobacco sprayed with arsenites was stud- 

 ied by the Kentucky Station to determine whether or not enough 

 arsenic was left on the leaves of the plant to injuriously affect the 

 health of the consumer. 



In 1894 2 tobacco was sprayed with Paris green and London purple 

 solution. It is estimated that individual plants sprayed once with 

 Paris green received 1.0329 grains of arsenic, those sprayed twice, 

 2.00156 grains, and plants sprayed with London purple, 1.8957 grains. 

 The chemical examination of the sprayed tobacco showed that whether 

 the original amount of arsenate was large or small only a compara- 

 tively small portion remained on the plant at the time of harvesting. 

 The largest amount of arsenic obtained in these investigations was 

 0.329 grain per pound of tobacco, or only about 1 per cent of the 

 arsenic originally applied. The plants sprayed but once retained 

 about 1.8 per cent of the amount left b} r spra} r ing, and those sprayed 

 with London purple about 3.2 per cent. 



In 1895 3 the inquiry into this subject was continued in connection 

 with another experiment. Plants were sprayed 1 to 8 times, from 

 July 3 to August 22, with a solution of one-fourth pound of Paris green 

 to 40 gallons of water, and the amounts of arsenic which they retained 

 at cutting time were determined. The amount of Paris green applied 

 varied with the number of applications, ranging from 0.1 to 0.8739 

 ounce per row. Plants sprayed once or twice showed only a trace of 

 arsenic, and since some arsenic was found in tobacco which had not 

 been sprayed it is concluded that practically all the arsenic left by 

 spraying was gone when the plants were cut on September 1. A num- 

 ber of plants which had been sprayed only once, but were sprayed 

 again on September 5 and cut as soon as they were dry, contained 

 0.0139 per cent of arsenic, evidently obtained from the last spraying. 

 The tobacco which was sprayed 8 times contained 0.0093 per cent of 



1 Connecticut State Station Report 1892. 2 Kentucky Station Bui. No. 53. 



3 Ibid. No. 63. 



