The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-14
Cigar Tobacco ana Its CuItivat,o,


Cigar Tobacco and Its Cultivation
In considering the subject of cigar to.
bacco and its cultivation it seems natural
to ask, says the Florida Agriculturist
what constitutes good cigar? And wbah
should be understood by the term quality
when applied TO the leaves from which d.
gars are made? That cigar is the host
"hlcn having the proper degree Of
strength, is the most agreeable to the
mouth and gives the finest aroma. Op
course, it is understood that the cigar
burns well and draws well, but all of tbs
other features, such as shape. color az
the ASH color and thickness of the vvrao-
per should be held of secondary imnort
anee 1t follows therefrom that that leaf
of tobacco is of the finest quality which
of itself will make the best cigar Tbat
the market demands a certain thickness
OF lear for wrapper and another thickness
Tor hller, and that the majority of srnol,
ers select there cigars by the color of the
wrapper may be admitted as facts. but are
tacts which do not make my position I'M
tenabie.
1t would be an advantage for the tobacco
farmer to become an expert Judge of The
4eaf IN its many forms and varieties: and
much more knowledge of the subject can
be obtained by comparative tests than bv
an implicit reliance on traditions and nom
ular beliefs Popular beliefs are too often
popular fallacles
rule which generally holds good is
TINS: other things being equal the quail
lty OF a leaf of tobacco is inversely in
proportion to its size. Again. Mr.. Butter
week recognizes the fact that seed taken
from different parts of the plant give
dl1erent results, and he selects his seed
from the most central cluster of capsules
at the top of the plant. We apply the
same principle to the leaves themselves.
and find that the quality of a leaf of to-
bacco depends to a considerable degree
upon the position which the said leaf oc-
cupied while on the plant
Now, suppose your plants have been
set In the usual manner in good. deep.
rich soil, and you expect to top them
soon, and counting from below upward
you propose to savesten, twelve or fifteen
leaves to the plant as the case may be.
why allow your plants to remain illcum-
bered with trash and bugs and arrest the
growth of that which if permitted to
develop would make your best tobacco?
Instead of doing this, when your plants
are from two to two and a half feet
nigh, or as soon as the seed buds can
be distinctly separated from the delicate
upper leaves snip them out with sharn-
pointed scissors and break off the lower
leaves to hight Of eight ten or twelve
inches from the ground You will have
remaining on each plant about dozen
leaves and these leaves are to make your
wrapper tobacco. While you keep the
plants scrupulously clean of suckers, the
two sprouts that start from each of their
tops and on very thrifty plants the ones
next below you save. These sprouts and
their subdivisions will produce your filler
tobacco. Buds will appear on these
sprouts, which should be shipped off with
the scissors, saving on an average about
SIX leaves to each sprout, and the same
care should be exercised in removing the
suckers as from the main stalk below.
Near the points from where each bud was
removed two sprouts or suckers will
start, which should be saved and third
generation of leaves allowed to develop
in the same manner as the preceding gem
GRAFTON. fourth generation of leaves
may be grown upon the more vigorous
plants saving those leaves which are the
most centrally situated, that is, in the
most direct line with the main stalk; but
no more leaves should be retained than
the plants can fully mature. And now
all new sprouts or suckers are to be re-
moved as fast as they appear. Mean
while your tobacco is ripening from be-
low upward, and as the leaves .ripen they
house and strung. The work of sucker
ing should be continued and goes on con-
jointly with that of printing and string
ing Time should be given for the small
leaves TO fully ripen, and all but the small
est should be primed The tops of the
plants which hold the smallest leaves, the
last ones to ripen, may be cut in Sec
tons.
1t is evident that this method of prun-
ing and suckering requires more than an
ordinary amount of labor but in my opin-
ion the finer quality of leaf obtained conn
pensates for the extra work expended. AZ
all events If in growing tobacco you con-
clude to save the primary leaves only,
do not sacrifice any of those at the top
of the plants. In topping, remove only
the buds. The practice of topping the
plants low to develop large leaves close
to the ground whether they are to be
used for wrappers or filters is wrong in
principle il quality be the chief considera-
ton.
1t is the almost universal opinion with
which l formerly concurred that the best
cigar tobacco is grown in Cuba. Within
the last ten years, have somewhat modi-
fed my views on the subject, and l now
believe that in the important requisite Of
giving fine bouquet the tobacco grown
in the valley of the Amazon. the so-called
Para tobacco, excels any other Tobacco
grown here from Para seed, whether ac-
cording to the way 1 have described or In
the usual manner, compared with that
grown under similar conditions and treat
ment from the best Havana seed, makes
a cigar which is more fragrant than one
made from the latter, is equally agreeable
to the mouth and apparently contains
slightly less percentage of nicotine. Para
tobacco is a late variety; it requires about
ten days longer 10 ripen than the Ha-
vana, and is, therefore, better adapted
10 a Southern climate than to this locality.
For over Fifty Years