29 



tightly closed, thereby controlling the humidity of the interior. In 

 case the humidity should become too low it can be increased by 

 admitting the damp night air. This, however, would rarely be 

 necessary in Porto Rico, because of the usual high humidity of the 

 air. In order to keep a desirable amount of humidity in the air it is 

 advisable to make occasional tests with the hygrometer, and if too 

 much or too little is found means can be taken to secure the proper 

 amount. 



Record of temperature in fermenting pile of tobacco. 



Date. 



x emper- 

 ature. 



Remarks. 



Date. 



Temper- 

 atui e. 



Remarks. 





° c. 







° C. 





Mar. 24 



28 



About 2,000 pounds. 



Apr. 18 



44 





Mar. 25 



? 



Apr. 19 



45 





Mar. 26 



49 



Taken down and rebuilt; 



Apr. 20 



46 









temperature too high. 



Apr. 21 



50 





Mar. 27 



35 



Apr. 22 





Taken down, rebuilt, and 



Mar. 28 



48 



Taken down, spread out, 





about 3,000 pounds added, 







and aired, after which it 







thus making a pile of 







was rebuilt and 1,000 







about 9,000 pounds. 







pounds of other tobacco 



Apr. 23 









added. 



Apr. 24 



29 





Mar. 29 







Apr. 25 



32 





Mar. 30 







Apr. 26 



35 





Mar. 31 



28 





Apr. 27 



38 





Apr. 1 



30 





Apr. 28 



42 

 43 





Apr. 2 



35 





Apr. 29 





Apr. 3 



39 





Apr. 30 



45 





Apr. 4 



43 





May 1 



47 





Apr. 5 



46 





May 2 



49 





Apr. 6 



48 





May 3 



50 





Apr. 7 



51 





May 4 



51 





Apr. 8 



48 



Taken down, rebuilt, and a 



May 5 



51 



Taken down and rebuilt. 





similar pile added, thus 



May 7 



32 









making a pile of about 



May 9 



37 









6,000 pounds. 



May 10 



40 





Apr. 9 



37 





May 11 



42 





Apr. 10 



45 



Taken down, rebuilt. 



May 12 



43 





Apr. 11 







^May 13 



45 





Apr. 12 



28 





May 14 



47 





Apr. 13 



30 





May 15 



48 





Apr. 14 



32 





May 16 



49 





Apr. 15 



86 





May 17 



49 



Fermentation completed 



Apr. 16 



39 







and sorting begun. 



Apr. 17 



42 











SEED SELECTION. 



An examination of the tobacco fields of Porto Rico and of the prod- 

 uct in the factories and warehouses shows a number of tobacco vari- 

 eties in the same field or in the same lot of tobacco, so that the crop 

 as a whole can not be spoken of as a distinctive type of Porto Rican 

 tobacco. Among the several varieties noticed two very distinct ones 

 may be mentioned, one in which the veins of the leaf grew almost at 

 right angles to the midrib, and the other (called " lengua vaca") a in 

 which the veins made an acute angle with the midrib. These wide 

 variations, which give rise to what may be called different types or 

 varieties of tobacco, are no doubt largely the result of defective 

 methods of seed selection, as pointed out in the report on preliminary 

 investigations. Indeed, the method of procuring tobacco seed is such 



« Literally " cow tongue "; i. e., a narrow, pointed leaf. 



