Evening star., 1923-09-26
GAINS MADE
in TOBACCO OUTPUT
Department of Agriculture
I Has Been Remarkable
Help to Growers In US.

~ -.
I In the last twenty-five or thirty
years q noticeable change has been
brought about in the tobacco-grow-
ing industry. largely due to the effort
made by careful Investigators at a
number OF experiment stations and
In the United States Department Of
Agriculture. The yield per acre. in
stead of going downhill. is now on
the upgrade. and 1t is probable that
the adoption of the new methods and
improved varieties, and the more
careful selection of types for .dif-
ferent soils, that tobacco production
can be greatly increased without the
development of any new areas or ex-
tension of acreage in the old ones.
Every one used to think that the
fermentation of tobacco in the cur
Ing process was caused by bacteria.
Just as is the fermentation of apple
| Juice in the manufacture of cider
ana vinegar, but they found out that
nothing to do with. II. 1t was found
that the leaves of tobacco contain
certain chemical compounds known
as engines. which, under certain
conditions of moisture and temporal
ture. produce fermentation This dis
coYery has led to great improvements
! IN the curing of the leaf Tests were
made to find. out the limiting tenn
perature of the pile of tobacco, and
now II is possible by the use of ,the
thermometer to control the curing
and greatly to increase the percent
age OF high grade tobacco. -;
Big Saving in New Curing Method.
More exact curing methods are
now used in all the principal tobacco
growing districts. In the northern
districts. where 1T was thought to
be necessary to cure tobacco in cases,
II, was found that bulk curing could
oe carried on Just as IL was in the
| southern districts. The adoption of
this method, since the limitations of
| temperature and moisture have been
! understood, has saved the F.. investors
many millions OF dollars
| Another discovery Is that, of the
| Steam sterilization of tobacco beds,
! Setore this tobacco innovation was
great. difficulty in growing plants for
transplanting> into the field. They
would become diseased in the bed,
with resulting large losses, Weeds
| also caused much trouble TO. the
young plants. Now the careful tobac-
| co grower eliminates both of these
dimculttes by going over the bed with
a steam sterilizer. which kills the
weeq seeds and destroys the. disease
| organisms which would attack the
| young plants. AS a result, 8 the pro-
duction of good healthy young plants
| is relatively easy. :.
Diseases DIFFICULT Problem -
\ II diseases attacked the. tobacco
plant only during the early'stag ges "of
Its growth in the bed, the tobacco
| grower would have an easy time, 1in-
deed, but there are many other dis
eases which ravage the plants ia the
neids. One Of the most destructive Of
/ THESE Is the one known as mosaic,
winch interested and puzzled plant
pathoiogists for long time: They
nave now found out that 1t Is a
| specific infection. that a certain def.
mite germ causes the trouble In ad-
dition to this, they learned that in
sects are factor in carrying It from
plant to plant. Following the discovery
other Investigators learned that the
same disease or at least a similar
one. attacks other agricultural plants
the potato, for instance
an the south the growers have SUI
def>ed ss,at !, "a great deal through losses, pro
tnsmed the Granville. tobacco wfIt.
tThe Department of Agriculture
worked out rotation system which
mas greatly reduced the. losses. No
cure has been found for the disease:
but the farmer now knows how to
keep out of its path. -st. =.
In regions of thin. light soil. tobac--
60 Iarme ers have long talked about. a.
supposed disease which they called
sana GROWN very expressive
the truth. BY adding a small amount
| OF magnesia to the fertIlixer It is
possible to make up for that taken
out by the teaching of rain. 1t isinow
1 no longer necessary for tobacco farm
e@Ts @ TO surfer loss from sand DROWN
| All they have to do is to change the
plants rations slightly. =: :.
Great Advance I'm breeding.
Some of the greatest advances have
been made In the field of plant breed
ing One particularly interesting
department. 1t is now known as
Maryland Mammoth, and the word
mammoth describes its outsaudins q
Characteristic. Most tobacco varieties
danger that a plant with a large.
coarse-textured leaf will be produced
The heavy leaf brings a low price.
which usually more than offsets, the
| Mammoth has a great capacity for
growth. 1t can be fed heavily with
fertilizers and will pay good returns
for them while at the same time it
/ Tobaeco-breeding work has pro
duced valuable results in other sec
tions. In the hurley districts the
growers formerly discarded their to-.
bacco ground after one or two" years
because of the destructive effect of
black root rot, to which hurley tobac-
| co was particularly susceptible: Tests
run on q large number of plants
brought out the fact that some OF
them were resistant to the disease,
and now resistant varieties make 1T
possible for these tobacco. growers TO
continue growing hurley tobacco on
their fields year after year. 49,. :.
In the districts where tobacco is
cured without artificial heat,fthere; is
occasionally 8 great loss because of
bad curing, which, of course, makes it
Impossible to get the maximum price
for the leaf Since more than half
! try is cured without artificial heat
bad weather is. a big factor inssde-
ternining whether there will be a
profit or loss Experiments carried
on by the department have. shewn
that a certain amount of heat used at
| the critical time will make 1t possible
| to cure the tobacco Just as 1t would be
Iconditions existed from start to- finish
=. 10000, ,OO0. 900 Cigarettes n Year.
The increase in the popularity of
the cigarette, which Is now being
produced at the rate of about SO. .e0eG-
compared with $500, 100000 In 1905,
has resulted IN the change In the de-
Ir1andi for different types OF, tobacco:
IN fthe Caroiinas and Virginia, where
/ a iarSe part of this tobacco is pro-
duced, government experimenters
found it possible to get a more de-
sirabIe leaf for this purpose not by