Better tobaccos are produced by reselection out of stand- 
ard varieties, and by the crossing or hybridization of 
different varieties or different types of tobacco to in- 
corporate the best qualities of each parent. Since beginning 
our tobacco improvement program in 1927, we have utilized 
all available material to produce better strains of standard 
varieties and new types from hybrids. 
Following the hybridization or crossing of different 
kinds of tobacco, it is necessary to reselect for many 
generations in order to obtain a well stabilized line with 
the characteristics desired. Each year thousands of selected 
plants are bagged with waterproof bags to prevent cross- 
ing. Individual primings from many hundreds of plants 
selected out of these thousands are tagged and cured so 
that quality determinations can be made on the leaf as it 
goes to the warehouse floor. Those plants that have the 
best field and cured leaf characteristics are then planted the 
following year in a separate row to obtain further data 
as to disease resistance, type and curing qualities. Plant- 
ing stock for following season’s sales is obtained from the 
best performing plants in each variety. 
BREEDING FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE 
Since tobacco diseases cause an average annual loss of 
about 15% of the crop, amounting to around $75,000,000 
or more, in the flue-cured belts, considerable effort is 
Mr. J. V. Williamson, in charge of our tobacco seed production 
program, is shown bagging an individual plant selection to pre- 
vent pollination. 
[6] BELOW—One of our tobacco nursery plots showing h 
