Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-06-16
TOBACCO PLANT
BORN TO ORDER.
Developed According to Speclfi-
cations Listed in Advance.
HARVARD EXPERT IS PARENT
New Plant Is cigar-Wrapper Tobacco
combing Desirable Qualities Of
Several Existing Varieties and, None
of Their Defects and Possessing Sew
eral Worthwhile Characteristics Un-
known in the Older Varieties, &

What is claimed to be the first plant
actually made to order according to
specifications listed in advance, has
been developed by Prof. Edward M.
East of Harvard for the Connecticut
agricultural experiment station at New
Haven, Conn.
The new plant, known as "Round
Tip" is a cig%ar-wrapper tobacco COM
bining, it is claimed, the desirable quail
tiles of several existing varieties and
none Of their defects and possessing
several worthwhile characteristics un-
known in the older varieties. It was
produced by a scientific application of
the laws of heredity, with the inyesti-
cation of which Professor East has
been identified for many years.
New varieties Of plants are not par
ticularly rare, it is said, and new names
for old varieties are as common as
freckles on a red-headed boy, but in
the past, according to the Harvard bio
logists, the new things in the plant
world have been more or. less acciden-
tai. Crosses, they say, have been made
Unfortunately, trusting to Provi-
dence that something good would turn
up, and occasionally Providence has
come to the rescue. 4
Building" a Wrapper.
In this case a study of cigar leaf
wrappers was made, and the character
istics demanded by grower, manufac-
turer and consumer were set down as
~cold-bloodedly as a builder would plan
| the requirements for a house. Existing
varieties were then examined in the
| field and in the warehouse with the
minutest care, seeking those which
when combined would give the greatest
| possible chance of success. Finally it
was decided the success Of the project
| depended on crossing the two varieties,
| Sumatra and %broadleaf.
1.-THE Round Tip" said Professor
East, "has the large leaf and the close
arrangement of leaves characteristic Of
the broadleaf variety. The leaves grow
upright, as do those of the Sumatra,
thus eliminating the loss from torn
l lGdVSS WulSA ~ 0lICn 4OSO1Io 4AV" SAo
dropping leaves Of the other parent.
The leaf is even broader than the Su-
matra, and SO increases the yield Of
cigar wrappers. Since the broadleaf Is
too thick and has too pronounced a
flavor for most smokers, and since the
Sumatra is too thin and has no flavor,
the new tobacco was made intermedi-
ate in these respects. Finally the
Round Tip develops six or sever more
leaves than the old varieties, possesses
a wonderful root system, making 1t
stand up under winds that lay other
tobaccos low, and has q resistance to
root rot which came to it by accident
rather than by design. :
Has Three Years Test. ~.
"The Round Tip has been distributed
to Connecticut tobacco growers by DR..
Donald f. Jones, a former pupil at
Harvard, who is now connected with
the Connecticut agricultural expert
ment station. 1t has had three years
test and has been reported on by some
torty-odd planters.
Crops of $500 pounds per acre, dou.
E-
Bile the yield Of ordinary varieties, have
been obtained under exceptional condi.
tions, and on the average 1000 pounds
may be confidently expected. But what
pleases is most is that by this expert
ment we have demonstrated that the
true fundamental principles of plant
breeding which we have spent years in
studying can be applied to a specific
problem with such useful results
Professor East holds the chair O.
experimental plant morphology at the
Bussey institution, the department Of
Harvard university devoted to research
and instruction in applied biology. He
is the author Of several volumes O
technical papers on h%eredity, and in
collaboration with Doctor Jones pub
lished a work on the effects Of '.In.
breeding and Outbreeding'' IN animals
and plants, and the bearing Of the re
suits on the up%building Of nations.
i