191 1.] Tobacco Growing for Insecticidal Purposes. 379 



purposes, there seems to be no objection to de-naturing the 

 crop by spraying the plants before or after they are cut with 

 some objectionable substance so as to render them incapable 

 of being smoked. At present, however, tobacco can only be 

 grown in England by persons possessing an Excise licence on 

 land approved by the Excise Commissioners, and in accord- 

 ance W'ith the prescribed Regulations, a summary of which 

 was given in this Journal, February, 191 1, p. 943. 



The fruit-grower would reap many advantages by growing 

 his own crop rather than by buying the manufactured leaf. 

 He would save the duty ; he would save the cost of curing and 

 fermenting (operations in which a large amount of nicotine 

 is lost), and he would save the cost of carriage and middle- 

 men's profits. An exceptionally rank variety of tobacco con- 

 taining the highest percentage of nicotine would be selected, 

 and as large a crop as possible would be grown without 

 regard to the question of quality from the smoking point of 

 view. All these circumstances would tend to reduce the cost, 

 and he would get a much cheaper article and an article much 

 better suited to his purpose than any he could purchase. 



Nor is it the fruit-grower only who w'ould reap the advan- 

 tage of growing his own tobacco. The hop-grower and also 

 the sheep-farmer would gain quite as much. The worst 

 insect enemy which the hop-grower has to fight against is 

 undoubtedly the Hop Damson Aphis, or "Hop Fly" 

 (Phorodon humuli), and against this pest nicotine wash is 

 considerably more effective than the commonly used soft soap 

 and quassia. Then, again, nicotine is very effective as a 

 sheep-dip. It destroys both the sheep ked (Melophagus 

 ovinus), and the sheep-scab mite, without injuring 

 either the sheep or the wool. In fact, it was by com- 

 pulsory dipping with either a tobacco and sulphur dip 

 or a lime and sulphur dip that sheep-scab was exterminated 

 from New Zealand. The fruit-farmer, the hop-grower, and 

 the sheep-breeder and feeder would therefore all gain if the 

 price of nicotine could be so reduced as to be within the reach 

 of everybody. 



The experiments which were conducted at Wye last year 

 dealt cliirlly with questions of cultivation, and tliey demon- 

 strated that tobacco can be grown to maturity in this country, 



