The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1892-07-30

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|iIeunsnds 81 ~ ts1iI Will -
|improvemsnt ~ ben nnade VI
there il plenty Of room 81 the top,
and by careful study and attention
al the little items Of culture, fsrtilir-
ing and handling, % much improve
ment can be made that fine bright,
glossy wrappers. asgood - famous
sumatra or even better, can be pro-
duced. II 10 admitted that such
goods have been grown TO : limited
extent, but the supply Is far short Of
the demand. To increase the quantity
Of wrappers that shall rival these
grown in any country should be oil
of Connections valley growers. Their
soil is peculiarly adapted to the pro-
duction of these goods, aud their
special production win bring the
greatest profit.
To produce . fine, bright glossy
leaf. the soil and fertilizer are i'm
portant factors, and each has it's
effect. A light or even sandy soil
will give fine light leaf, but such
land Is generally destitute of potash,
which is one of the most important
as we'll as the largest constituent Of
tobacco. The high grade, ninty-five
to ninty-eight per cent. sulphate Of
potash, is safest to use. Cotton hull
ashes may be cheaper, and are also
safe to use, but, vary greatly in
quality, and being sold on no guaran-
teed analysis, the buyer has no pro-
lection, and an investment in them 10
like buying lottery ticket. On
light soils, cottonseed meal gives
good results at the latter part Of the
season, and should be applied early
in the spring in order that the plant
food it contains may become avail
able during the short growing
period. At the present time the
best growers agree that manure and
Fertilizers together are better than
either alone. Fertilizers containing
0 large amount Of phosphoric acid
are not desirable, but q constant
supply Of potash and ammonia is
necessary. One great mistake is in
failing TO furnish liberal amount of |
available plant food. during the en-
tire growing season, and in such forms
as the plant requires for the best
development of the leaf. Some are
penny wise and pound foolish in this |
regard, which results in disappoint-
ment and lean pocketbooks in the
majority of cases. The plant itself
cannot be cheated, and in trying to
cheat they cheat themselves. Stable
manure should be applied in the fall,
but if used in the spring it is best to
pillow it 10 and apply specially pre-
pared fertilizer narrowed in, some in
the drill, or both.
/ desire to call particular attention
to the startling point of the crop,
which has not yet received the atten-
ton it should. The seed has very
important place in the business, for
without good, pure seed of the best
everything may be favorable,
yet failure is sure. It is often stated
that Havana seed should be used
only q few years from importation,
that it deterioratee, runs out, runs
into seed.leaf, etc. I take exception
in all these statements, admitting |
only that the climate and soil change
the size and fragrance of the leaf
gradually in the course of five or ten
or twenty years. But this change
does rot necessarily deteriorate the
quality of the leaf for wrapper, II
proper attention 10 paid in selecting |
the seed, using only the best. The
variety will be improved and better
crops produced. With most crops
great care 10 taken to get the best
seed, while with tobacco, the most
costly crop, and when good crop is
the most remunerative of
eli, seed is saved in the most careless
and shiftless Of ways possible. This
is all wrong. The best method have
yet discovered to obtain the best
plump, healthy seed, is to select the
best plants for seed, remove ell
suckers, leaving only the head to
produce seed. When few of the
earliest seed pods turn brown, remove
all the blossoms and all the seed
pods not nearly full grown. The
plant will not produce IS much seed
but it will be plump and healthy
and when ripe should be shelled and
winnowed many times un-
til.the lightest seed il removed This |
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