The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-03

places during the crop season. There
does not seem TO be sufficient difference to
explain the distribution of the different
classes Of tobacco. and yet this disuribu-
ton probably Is due mainly to climatic
conditions
One must stiil Judge. therefore, so far
as the climate is concerned mainly from
the experience of others as TO the class
of tobacco to be raised, as the ordinary
meteorological record will be Of very little
value in determining this point. The plant
Is far more sensitive to these meteOro.o-
gical conditions than are the Instruments
Even in such a famous tobacco region
as Cuba, tobacco of good quality cannot
he grown in the immediate vicinity of
the ocean or In certain paris of The is
land ever on what would otherwise be con-
sidered good tobacco lands. This has been
the experience also in Sumatra, and in
our own country but the influences are
too subtle to be detected by meteorologi-
cal Instruments. Little, therefore, can be
said at the present time in regard to the
suitable climatic condition for tobacco of
any particular type or quality.
Under given climatic conditions the class
and type of tobacco depend upon the char
acter of the soil, especially on the physi-
cal character of the soil upon which it is
grown, while the grade is dependent large
ly upon the cultivation and curing of the
=
in widely differing soils all the way from
the coarse sandy lands of the pine barrens
to the heavy Gay limest tone grass and
wheat lands. The best soil for one kind of
tobacco, therefore, may be almost worth
less for the stable agricultural crops, while
the best for another type of tobacco may
be the richest and most productive soil
of any that we have. 1t is particularly true
of tobacco to a greater extent perhaps
than of any other crop, that the texture
and physical properties of the soil in
huenoe the physiology of the plant to such
an extent as to determine and control the
distribution of the widely differing distinct
types of tobacco. Soils producing a heavy
chipping tobacco viii not produce fine
tobacco Of any variety. Soils containing a
large proportion of clay or which for 9th
er reasons are very retentive of moisture,
tend TO produce large, heavy plants, which
cure TO a dark brown, or red. A Tighter
sandy soil produces a plant having a thin
uer and more delicate leaf, which by prop
er treatment can be cured to a bright red
mahogany, or fine yellow color. SO marked
is this influence of soil upon the quality of
the tobacco that a fine, bright tobacco
Land may be separated by only a few feet
from u heavier clay soil, which will pro
duce ouly q heavy manufacturing or eX-
port leaf
Manures and fertilizers tend always TO
increase the y legd per acre, but where large
quantities of nitrogen are added to the sol
there is a tendency for the leaf to become
thicker heavier, and more gummy. In the
case of the fine, bright tobaccos or natur-
ally thin-textured leaves this is apt 20
cause a marked deterioration in the char
acter of the Geaf; but with the heavier
varieties this result is far from undesira-
bic, because il merely increases the nor
NAL influences of the soil in making the
leaf heavier richer. and of more body.
Considerable control can therefore be ex-
ercised upon the quality or grade Of the
leaf not only by judicious cultivation, but
by proper fertilization.