in the North- West of Europe. 
731 
of Tobacco in the United Kingdom then the above written Bond or 
obligation to be void or else to be and remain in full force and virtue. 
Signed sealed and delivered j 
by the above bounden, { 
In the presence of | 
As the experience of any one year in our variable climate 
would not be deemed conclusive, the Council of the Society 
have asked me to publish at once the notes which I possess 
on what may be termed the field or farming portion of the 
subject, and upon the processes of curing which I have seen 
employed this autumn in Holland, Belgium, and the North 
of France. 
Tobacco belongs to the natural order Atropacece, or Deadly 
Night-shade Order, and is closely allied to the SolanacecB, or 
Potato Order, with which, indeed, it was previously united. 
The former order contains a large number of poisonous plants, 
including the deadly night-shade, henbane, mandrake, and 
stramonium, as well as tobacco, the scientific name of which is 
Nicotiana, in compliment to M. Nicot, who first introduced the 
" weed " into France. There are several species and a multi- 
tude of varieties of Nicotiana, but those generally grown in the 
north-west of Europe are the N. tabacum and the N. rustica, the 
former having red flowers and the latter yellow ones. The seeds- 
men's varieties, as advertised by Messrs. Vilmorin, Andrieux, 
and Co., of Paris, * take their names from the various American 
States and certain European and Asiatic countries, e.g., Con- 
necticut (vars. Belknap, and Hockman), Havannah, Kentucky, 
Maryland, Virginia, Oronoko, Indian, Hungarian, Turkish, 
Muscat, &c. The Dutch authorities have two special sub- 
varieties of N. tabacum, known respectively as " Amersfoort " 
and " Nijkerk." The Belgians classify the tobaccos of V'irginia, 
Maryland, Cuba, and Havannah under the head of Nicotiana 
petunoides, which is easily distinguished by its white flowers. 
These varieties do not succeed so well in Belgium, nor, as I am 
informed, in Holland, as the varieties which have been pro- 
duced by selection in those countries during a long series of 
years. In Belgium the principal sorts are the " Croquard," 
the "Philippin," " Batavia," and a newer one of doubtful value 
called " Saint-Pol." 
Mr. de Laune, of Sharsted Court, Sittingbourne, Kent, has 
experimented this year upon twelve varieties, namely, Macro- 
phylla, Florida, Glasner, Caine's Seed-leaf, Hester Virginia, 
Kentucky, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland Broad-leaf, 
* In tie price-lists of English seedsmen, I have not seen tobacco seed quoted 
except for ornamental purposes as a sub-tropical plant. 
3 B 2 
