332 
similar to that of Kentucky, Maryland, Connecticut and 
Virginia, parts of Victoria resembling in climate very much 
these countries. Krost is detrimental to the Tobacco-plant ; 
not only particularly when young must it he guarded against 
it, hut frost will also injure the ripe crop. Mr. Politz con- 
siders the scarcity of dew in some of our districts to militate 
against the production of the best kinds, otherwise the yield ^ 
as a rule is large, and the soil in many places well adapted 
for' this culture. Leaves of large size are frequently 
obtained. The moister and warmer northern and eastern 
regions of our Colony are likely to produce the best 
Tobacco, if the final preparation of the leaf for the manu- 
facturer is effected by experienced skill. The cruder kinds 
are obtained with ease, and so leaves for covering cigars. 
ALrgin soil with rich loam is the best for Tobacco-culture, 
and such soil should also contain a fair proportion of lime 
and potash, or should be enriched with a calcareous manure 
and ashes, or with well decomposed stable manure. The seed- 
lings, two months or less old, are transplanted. "When the 
plants are coming into flower the leading top-shoots are 
nipped off, and the young shoots must also be broken off. 
A few weeks afterwards the leaves will turn to a greenish 
yellow, which is a sign that the plants are fit to be cut, or 
that the ripe leaves can gradually be pulled. In the former 
case the stems are split ; the drying is then effected in barns 
by suspension from sticks across beams. The drying pro- 
cess occu^fies four or five weeks and may need to be assisted 
by artificial heat. Stripped of the stalks the leaf-blades are 
then tied into bundles to undergo sweating or a kind of 
slight fermentation. It does not answer to continue 
tobacco-culture beyond two years on the same soil uninter- 
ruptedly. A prominent variety is Nicotiana latissima, 
Miller, or A. macropliylla, Lehm., yielding largely the 
Chinese, the Orinoco and the Maryland Tobacco. The 
dangerously powerful Kicotin, a volatile acrid alkaline oily 
liquid, and Nicotianin, a bitter aromatic lamellar substance, 
are both derived from Tobacco in all its parts and are thera- 
peutic agents. 
