The Wilmington morning star., 1941-01-13
QUALITY TOBACCO
DEPENDS ON SOIL
Seed And Fertilizer Also I'M
portant Factors In PrOduc-
ton OF Good Weed

been drastically reduced in North
Carolina within the past two years,
but there is no restriction on pro-
ducing high quality tobacco eco
nomically, says Lloyd T. Weeks,
Extension tobacco specialist of N.
c. State college. To attain the de-
sirable quality-economy level in to-
bacco production, Weeks says that
soil, seed and fertilizers should re-
ceive first consideration.
Tobacco is different from most
other crops,' the specialist de-
clared. Certain qualities must be
possessed to meet the exacting
market demands. This, coupled
Discussing first the land on
which tobacco should be g r o W n,
Weeks said: Tobacco soils should
be uniform in depth and fertility,
well drained, and of type that
will not become hard and compact.
Sandy and fine sandy loans, and
1oamy sands of moderate produc-
tiveness, but not rich, are the best
types of soil for tobacco.
Where no disease is prevalent,
tobacco will produce well following
a weed crop. But since most OF
the soils of North Carolina have
some type of disease of which
weeds are host, it is better to fol-
low a three-to-four-year rotation.
Corn cotton, peanuts and sweet
potatoes are the best row crops to
precede tobacco"
Broad Leaf Desirable
Turning next to the important
question of seed, the Extension spe-
cialist pointed out that the increas-
ing use of cigarettes in the last 20
years has made necessary the pro-
duction of a wider leaf of thinner
texture than was formerly grown.
The broad leaf varieties will pro-
duce a greater number of pounds
of bright tobacco than will the
narrow varieties.
Among the better broad leaf va
rieties are: White Stem Orinoco,
Virginia Bright Leaf, Jamaica
Wrapper, Gold Dollar, Bonanza,
and Bells Improved Gold Dollar.
Weeks reported that variety dem
onstrations over the pa S rhtt e
onstrations over the p three
years have shown that the Gold
Dollar and Virginia Bright Leaf
yielded crops of the highest net
value in the Coastal Plain section,
the '400'' and Mammoth Gold va
rieties have been included in the
demonstrations for the past two
years, and they also produced IA
vcrable results.
Third, and probably the most i'm
portant factor in the quality of
fiue-cured tobacco is the fertilizer
used. On heavy and more produc-
tive soils, Weeks recommends a
S-l0-6 mixture applied at the rate
of 800 to 1000 pounds per acre. On
light or less productive soils, a
1856 fertilizer at the rate of 300
to 1900 pounds per acre is desir-
able.
The source of nitrogen in the
fertilizer is very important" the
specialist said 'One-third of the
nitrogen should be derived from
materials in the nitrate form; one
third from standard inorganic
sources; and one-third from Or
ganic materials of plant or animal
origin. The phosphate should be
derived from 16 to 20 percent su-
per-phosphate or tn e equivalent.
The potash should be derived from
any source of available potash, pro-
vided the chlorine content of the
mixed fertilizer does not exceed 2
percent"
Reports on Demonstrations
10 illustrate, Weeks reported the
following results from three years
OF fertilizer demonstrations. In the
Coastal Plain the highest average
net return per acre t$218.76 was
obtained from a 3-10-6 fertilizer,
applied at the rate of 1000 pounds
per acre. The nitrogen was de-
rived from one-third nitrate of so
one-third sulphate of ammonia, and
one-thlrd Uramon. The phosphate
was all superphosphate. The potash
was 1.5 percent muriate, 20 per-
cent sulphate Of potash magnesia,
and 2.5 percent sulphate of potash.
In the Piedmont section, the
highest net return per acre (2O1. .O6
resulted from 1000 pounds p r
acre of 3-10-6 fertilizer deriving
one-third nitrogen from nitrate of
soda, one-third from sulphate of
ammonia, 16 2-3 percent from cot
tonseed meal, and 16 % percent
from blood; one half superphos-
phate and one-half Mono-calcium;
and the potash the same as in the
Coastal Plain mixture.
Concluding his fertilizer recon-
ist said: where soils have a OH
Of Sc or above, the maximum
chlorine content may be percent.
When additional potash is used,
better yield and quality of tobacco
is produced on most soil types. On
Coastal Plain soils, 100 to $50
pounds of sulphate Of potash may
be applied as side-dressing with
in 20 days after transplanting. On
Piedmont soils, so to rs pounds of
sulphate of potash may be applied
at the same time (within 20 days
after transplanting.
"It is not advisable to use more
than 6 to 8 percent potash before
transplanting due to interference of
stand by high amounts of potash.
Where tobacco has a tendency to