Tobacco as a Farm Crop for England. 
225 
covered with a sticky substance, and my hands became quite 
black, and even my watch-chain had to be washed after contact 
with the leaves. The best time for removing the suckers with 
least injury to the leaves seemed to be before sunrise, as I dis- 
covered on removing the suckers very early one morning in 
August, for the moment the sun struck the leaves, they cracked, 
if touched, in all directions. The continuous removal of these 
suckers is most essential to the welfare of the plant, since, if 
left, they were found to increase at the rate of J-inch a day, 
and thus were a continual drain on the strength of the plant. 
I have no hesitation in saying that many of the leaves lost in 
quality and substance owing to the action of the suckers, and, 
consequently, in the drying process cured "papery." 
Q. — Were the plants infested with worms or insects ? 
A. — Worms, which cause such trouble in America, did not 
appear here ; and the only insects that gave us any trouble 
were earwigs, and, in order to ascertain whether these insects 
were really perforating the leaves, I consulted Miss Ormerod, 
and put a tobacco-leaf into a bottle together with some earwigs. 
The result was decisive, as the insects devoured nearly the 
whole leaf. 
Q. — Was not the season rema/kably favourable to the cultiva- 
tion of tobacco ? 
A. — It has generally been considered so by most people, but 
I myself am by no means inclined to regard it as the perfection 
of tobacco weather — the earlier part of the season being un- 
genial and cold, and the latter part extremely hot, so that the 
tobacco was forced into growth at the very time when it ought 
to have been maturing, and the weather was so dry that the 
rainfall was only 5 inches from planting to harvesting. 
Q. — When did you commence your tobacco harvest ? 
A. — The Kentucky and Connecticut plants showed the first 
signs of ripening, and the harvesting was carried on from 
September 3rd till the 18th of October. Various methods of 
getting in the crop, described in the United States Government 
Agricultural Report, were adopted. In some cases individual 
leaves were cut off ; in others the entire plant was cut down 
close to the ground ; and thirdly, and best of all, the stem 
was split nearly to the bottom and the plants slung on lathes 
about 5 feet long ; these in turn being arranged on a square 
frame-work on wheels and conveyed to the hop-oast, which was 
to serve as the drying-room. All these processes are fully 
described, with accompanying illustrations, in the United States 
Report on the Productions of Agriculture (Washington, 1883).* 
* Vide p. 251 of this article. 
VOL. XXIII. — S. S. 
Q 
