22 



plant. Early topping caused the plants to throw out suckers freely, 

 but this tendency diminished as the topping was done later. It was 

 found sufficient to remove the suckers from the later topped plants 

 once, while from the plants topped on the two earlier dates they had 

 to be removed at two different times. The larger yields were obtained 

 from the latest topping and the greater number of leaves per plant. 



The time for topping a tobacco plant is when the seed bud has well 

 put out. If the soil is rich and the tobacco has the proper distance 

 only the seed bud should be taken out; all leaves should be allowed to 

 grow. It is often necessary to remove the suckers three or four times 

 after topping. 



The time and manner of topping has a great influence upon the 

 character of the leaf produced. As a rule the earlier a plant is topped 

 and the lower it is topped the heavier, richer, and darker-colored the 

 leaves become. This is a decided advantage for some crops, but a 

 disadvantage to others. In the production of the finest quality of 

 Sumatra wrappers in Florida the practice has recently grown up of 

 topping very high, and, indeed, in wet seasons or on heavy soils, where 

 the plants are making a luxurious growth, the plant is allowed to go 

 to seed in order to keep the leaves as small and thin as possible. 



YIELD OF TOBACCO. 



The yield of tobacco, like that of other crops, is the product of all 

 the factors of growth and, as these are not constant, but vary con- 

 siderably with time and place, the yields vary at different times and 

 in different sections of the country. The results obtained at different 

 experiment stations in connection with experimental work are here 

 briefly noted: 



At the North Louisiana Experiment Station 1 at Calhoun in 1892 

 the average yields of bright leaf and cigar varieties on different exper- 

 imental plats varied from 712 to 1,280 pounds of cured leaf per acre, 

 respectively, on fertilized and unfertilized plots; in 1893 2 an acre of 

 bright tobacco yielded 592 pounds of cured leaf, and 11 varieties of 

 cigar tobacco, grown on fertilized red sandy soil, yielded on an aver- 

 age 1,046 pounds per acre, while an acre of land at Shreveport, La., 

 under the management of the station, yielded at the rate of from 

 1,400 to 1,600 pounds of cured cigar leaf and from 1,600 to 1,800 

 pounds of bright leaf; in 1894 3 the average yields of cured leaf per 

 acre of cigar and bright leaf varieties in connection with soil, variety, 

 and fertilizer tests, ranged from 359 to 1,086 pounds per acre; and in 

 1895 ■ the results of similar work varied from 505 to 788 pounds per 

 acre in the yield of cured tobacco of yellow leaf and cigar varieties. 



1 Louisiana Stations Bui. No. 20, 2d ser. 3 Ibid. No. 33, 2d ser. 



2 Ibid. No. 25, 2d ser. 4 Ibid. No. 41, 2d ser. 



