1 Jan.,.1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 45 
We cannot depend altogether upon our natural advantages to secure a 
share of this business, but these must be supplemented by intelligent and 
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painstaking methods. We must create a larger demand by producing a superior 
article; this is simply the common sense that governs all practical business. 
Tn the several articles I have heretofore written for this Journal, I have 
endeavoured to show how the best results are to be obtained, but it is difficult 
o impress these facts upon growers so long as a fixed price is paid for the whole 
crop of a given district. This will be changed when buyersfrom the other colonies 
seek to purchase in this colony. Supplemental to what has been heretofore 
_ published, it is necessary to impress upon the growers that the value of their 
product is much enhanced by a good variety of seed. 
| It is true that, so far as the quality of the tobacco is concerned, it is 
controlled by soil and climatic conditions, but there are certain qualities, 
peculiar to certain varieties not affected by these conditions, that make them 
‘more valuable, such as the structure of the leaf—that will give a larger yield 
‘when the stem is taken out, its shape making it desirable for use as wrapper 
with a minimum of waste; the smallness and position of the fibres, that give a 
smooth and finished look to the manufactured product; also its curing qualities, 
‘yielding readily to proper treatment and giving exact results. These are 
constitutional peculiarities that do not readily disappear; atthe same time, they 
_ otherwise partake of the general character of the tobaccos grown in a given 
place. Therefore it is important that good reliable seeds of a desirable variety 
should be secured. 
j For the information of the growers, I will say there is no distinct type of 
_ tobacco known as Kentucky or Virginia, and to so label seed is misleading. 
_ While these two States are the largest producers in the United States, and grow 
_ many varieties common to both, none of these varieties bear distinctively their 
"name. 
| In the selection of seeds for heavy tobacco you cannot go far wrong in the 
Pryors. It is from these, sometimes cross-bred for special purposes, that we get 
_ our most desirable varieties. 
| The Burley tobacco is a sport, and very valuable for certain work, both in 
_ the United States and in Great Britain, but has no market in the colonies. 
i Our tobacco-growers could much improve their curing-sheds by siding them 
up, and at a small cost. It should be borne in mind that drying is not curing ; 
and when the tobacco is hung in the shed, the work should not be considered 
_ finished until stripping time comes. 
| To secure the best results, the curing-shed should be as free as possible 
from sudden changes, but conditions should be kept as uniform as possible 
| during the whole curing process, and it is for this reason largely that artificial 
_ processes are used. ‘The tobacco should be hung uniformly throughout the shed, 
and not too thick, that each stalk may be subject, as nearly as possible, to the 
same conditions, and this is necessary to get uniform results. It is also 
necessary, if good results are to continue, that care should be taken of the lands 
_ suitable for tobacco, and not to exhaust them by continual cropping. Two or 
even three crops may be safely taken from perfectly fresh lands, but beyond 
_ that may do serious injury, unless some method is adopted to keep up the 
_ supply of potash. This can be done, to some extent, by scattering the tobacco 
_ Stalks over the field as soon as the tobacco has been stripped and ploughed in. 
| J am of the opinion that lands that have been too heavily cropped with tobacco 
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_ may be restored by sowing to lucerne and grazing it off, and then sown to 
- wheat, the latter being allowed to mature. 
| Usually, when the cropping has not been too heavy, one or two years in 
wheat greatly freshens it. ‘he practice in the United States, when fertilisers 
_ are not used, and the soil is suitable for general cropping, for old ground a 
_ three-years’ rest is allowed, after one year in tobacco ; and of these three years 
it is thought to be well to let tobacco be succeeded and preceded by wheat. 
This is practised by many of our good growers. 
