2 



group, but at the time this experiment was undertaken, the Poha- 

 kea tract was selected as the most convenient place in which to 

 carry on field work. 



WHERE CAN TOBACCO BE GROWN? 



The determinant factors in the production of tobaccos of high 

 grade and fine flavor are: 



Soils of the proper physical texture. 

 A suitable climate. 

 Selected seed. 



Clean cultivation, fertilization and the requisite skill in curing 

 and fermenting the crop to produce a uniform quality of leaf. 



TOBACCO SOILS. 



The texture of a soil, that is, the ratio between clay, silt, fine 

 and coarse sand, is held to have much to do with the type of the 

 product. Good seed planted on unfavorable soils will not pro- 

 duce good tobacco. The texture governs the water-holding 

 capacity of the soil, and this, in turn, controls, to some extent, 

 the physiological changes within the growing plant; so that, 

 eliminating other factors, the type of crop, which a given soil will 

 produce, can be pre-determined, to some extent, merely by an 

 examination of the soil. 



The color of the cured leaf, whether light or dark, its thinness 

 and elasticity, depend, apparently, almost absolutely on soil char- 

 acteristics and its water-holding capacity. 



SOME HAWAIIAN TOBACCO SOILS. 



The soil on the Hamakua homesteads and on the Hamakua 

 tract of land adapted to tobacco, — a belt extending from Paauhau 

 to Hakalau at an elevation of from iooo to 2500 feet — , is a sandy 

 forest loam, very rich in humus and with a high nitrogen con- 

 tent. The color of the soil is a light brown becoming almost black 

 when wet. 



