FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. 65 
people as the ‘‘Old Belt’’,section. The line is of course more or less 
arbitrary, but it quite closely represents the approximate eastern 
limits of tobacco growing prior to the great expansion eastward 
which took place from 1885 to 1890, and also represents in broad 
outline the approximate division point between the New Belt and the 
Old Belt tobaccos in point of quality. 
The Coastal Plain sandy soils of the New Belt section produce a 
brighter type of leaf, but generally with less body and substance than 
do the soils of the Old Belt with their greater percentage of clay, 
particularly in the subsoil. 
Modifications in methods of cultivation and handling in the two 
regions are characteristic, particularly in the matter of priming, 
topping, harvesting, and curing. In the Old Belt section the plants 
Fic. 27.—Common method of hauling tobacco from the field in the Virginia tobacco districts. 
are topped lower and generally a few bottom leaves are primed off and 
discarded at topping time, usually leaving only about 10 leaves to 
each plant to mature. In the New Belt section higher topping is 
practiced, that is, more leaves are left on the plant. In the Old Belt 
also, the whole plant is cut and cured at one time while in the New 
Belt it is customary to pick the leaves a few at a time as they ripen, 
beginning at the bottom of the plant and going up. Other modifica- 
tions of method might also easily be noted in the two sections. 
Figure 27 shows the method of harvesting tobacco in the Old Belt 
section, the whole plant being harvested and hung on the stick, while 
figure 28 shows a harvesting scene in the New Belt section. The 
separate leaves are harvested and fastened to the sticks in small 
bundles with strings. 
45801°— Bul. 244—12—_5 
