66 



will stop suddenly as soon as the air gets dry. The fact is that the 

 plant has been encouraged to put out roots high up the stem and on 

 that account has discarded the deeply-laid roots. In such a case, a 

 few days dry wind is sufficient to absorb all the moisture out of the 

 ridge that is so much above the surrounding level, with the result 

 that the roots contained therein, 0.1 which the plant has been depend- 

 ing for its sustenance, very quickly become useless through lack of 

 moisture. The ridge should be low and broad, extending from the 

 centre of one interval to the centre of the next. To enable the work- 

 man to place the mould right up to the stem of the plant the small 

 leaves at the base are removed. A No. 1 hoe is the best size for 

 moulding tobacco. 



Topping- — Each successive leaf is larger than the one just below, 

 up to the eighth or ninth ; the next four or five are about the same 

 s'ze, and those developed afterwards get gradually less until those near 

 the infloresence are n 4hing more than small scales. One object in 

 topping is to ensure all the leaves ripening at the same time so that 

 the whole plant may be cut ; this only happens when the plants are 

 topped down to the last developed large leaf ; e.g., the top one of the 

 four or five that are the same size as each other. 



Some practice is required to be able to judge just where to top the 

 plant as these leaves have not yet developed, the best way at first is 

 to top down to the twelfth leaf from the bottom those plants in which 

 the flovver bud is just discernible, not counting those leaves that were 

 removed in the moulding. 



In poor sandy soil, planted late, only eight or nine good le ives per 

 plant will be obtained, but in rich soil under the best con litions as 

 many as fifteen good leaves have been secured per plant. 



Suckering. — The topping is the signal for a sudden burst of suckers 

 from the axils of the leaves ; those at the top being the quickest to 

 develop. These s ackers must be removed as soon as it is possible to 

 lay hold of them conveniently, care being taken not to leave a single 

 one on any part of the plant; remove every ves:ige of a sucker light 

 d nvn to the ground. If one is left it will be benefited by the 

 removal of the others and grow at a prodigous rate. 



If the weather is moist the suckering can be done at any time of the 

 day, but if dry hot days obtain, the suckering is best done in the 

 morning, as the suckers are brittle and snap off easily ; whereas in 

 the afternoon they become leathery and difficult to remove without 

 injuring the good leaves. 



About ten or fourteen days after the first suckering another lot of 

 suckers will appear ; these must be removed in the same way leaving 

 two only that are growing out of the stem below the surface of the soil ; 

 these are called the first " ratuons", to distinguish them from the 

 p ant which is called the " principal " 



Hipening. — Seven or eight days after the second suckering the 

 leaves will begin to ripen ; the firs- to do so will be, of course, the 

 bottom or oldest leaves and the last the top one. The first sign of 

 rip* ning will be a crimped appearance in the leaf, somewhat like a 

 savoy cabbage but not so pronounced ; the next is the leaves turn a 

 light green ; which, on closer examination, will be found to be caused 

 by a yellow shading at the summit of each little bump or crimp. The 



