18 



This classification is based on the difference in color and compactness 

 of the ash of the tobacco grown with the different fertilizer applica- 

 tions. Since these differences were slight in several instances the 

 classification is considered as somewhat arbitrary. 



The most extensive series of fertilizer tests on tobacco reported by 

 the experiment stations was made by the Connecticut State Experi- 

 ment Station 1 in connection with the Connecticut Tobacco Experiment 

 Company during the seasons of 1892 to 1896, inclusive. The experi- 

 ments were conducted on 28 plats on which different fertilizers or 

 different amounts of fertilizers were applied, and the conclusions 

 drawn are based upon the average results for four or five years. An 

 application of 210 pounds of nitrogen per acre, either in the form of 

 cotton-seed meal or castor pomace, produced larger crops, a greater 

 percentage of wrapper leaf, and a better quality of tobacco than an 

 application of 175 pounds or 105 pounds of nitrogen. A comparison 

 of cotton-seed meal and castor pomace as tobacco fertilizers showed 

 that castor pomace produced on an average for five years 25 pounds 

 of wrappers more per acre than cotton-seed meal, but the average 

 quality of leaf raised with cotton-seed meal was somewhat better than 

 that of leaf grown with castor pomace. Linseed meal as a source of 

 nitrogen produced on an average for four years 157 pounds of wrap- 

 pers per acre less than castor pomace and 65 pounds less than cotton- 

 seed meal, but the quality of the leaf from the linseed-meal plat was 

 decidedly better than from the other two. The average results of a 

 comparison of dry -ground fish and cotton-seed meal, carried on for four 

 years, showed that dry -ground fish yielded 257 pounds of wrapper leaf 

 per acre less than cotton-seed meal, but in quality of product the plat 

 fertilized with dry-ground fish ranked fourth among the entire number 

 of plats, while the other plat ranked seventeenth. Dry -ground fish 

 produced 56 per cent of wrappers in the. crop, and the cotton-seed 

 meal 63 per cent. 



Apph x ing one-half of a dressing furnishing 210 pounds of nitrogen 

 per acre, in the form of nitrate of soda, when the crop was nearly half 

 grown, instead of applying the whole amount of nitrogen in the form 

 of castor pomace prior to setting out, the crop produced a heavier 

 yield of tobacco suitable for wrappers, but it reduced the quality of the 

 leaf so that there was no economy in the practice. The average yield 

 for four years of tobacco fertilized with tobacco stems was 976 pounds 

 of wrappers per acre, as compared with a jdeld of 681 pounds for the 

 crop grown with stable manure, but the stable manure produced a 

 better quality of leaf than the tobacco stems. Taking into considera- 

 tion the results obtained with stable manure and cotton-seed meal the 

 author recommends supplementing an application of stable manure 



1 Connecticut State Station Rpts., 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897. 



