Situation.—Land intended for tobacco-culture should have good drainage, and be sheltered from high winds. In Holland, where tobacco-cultivation is carried out to great perfection, each field is surrounded by a hedge about 7 ft. high ; the fields are divided into small plots, which are again bordered by rows of plants that are able to break the force of the wind, which would injure the leaves, and render them of comparatively little value. To this circumstance, must chiefly be attri buted the fact that Dutch growers succeed in getting as much as 50 per cent. of leaves of the first quality, whereas in most other countries 25 per cent. is considered to be a very good outturn.
Manure.—In its natural state, the soil will rarely possess the elements of plant food in such a form as is most conducive to the production of a fine tobacco-leaf. Any deficiency must be supplied in the shape of suitable manure. Se/dosing found that a bad burning tobacco was produced on a soil containing little potash, on unmanured soil, on soil manured with flesh, humus, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and potassium chloride. A good burning tobacco was produced on a soil manured with potassium carbonate, saltpetre, and potassium sulphate. More recent experi ments carried out by other investigators tend to corroborate these conclusions. It is generally assumed that a soil rich in nitrogenous organio matter produces a. strong tobacco that burns badly.
The results of Nessler's experiments clearly show that it is not sufficient to apply the element most needed by the plant—potash—in any form, but that, to produce a good tobacco, it is necessary to apply it in a particular combination. It was found that carbonate of potash applied as manure produced the best tobacco : it burnt for the longest time, and its ash contained most carbonate of potash ; whereas chloride of potash produced a much inferior tobacco. The assertion of other experimenters that chlorides produce a bad tobacco is thus confirmed. Sulphate of potash and sulphate of lime produced a good tobacco. It may be noticed here that tobacco which was manured with gypsum contained a great amount of carbonate of potash in the ash, probably due to the fact that gypsum is a solvent for the inert potash salts. From the foregoing, it may be concluded that in tobacco cultivation, the elements potassium and calcium should be restored to the soil in the form of carbonate, sulphate, or nitrate, but not as chlorides. Poudrette, or prepared night-soil, gene
rally contains a considerable amount of chlorides, and is not well suited as manure for fine tobacco. It has been found that fields manured with chlorides produced heavily ; a small proportion of chlorides may therefore be applied in this form, whenever quality is of less importance than quan tity. Farmyard manure may suffice when tobacco is cultivated in proper rotation, but here also, unless the soil be very rich in potassium and calcium, the application of some special manure will greatly enhance the value of the outturn. Wood-ashes are a valuable supplement to stable dung. Gypsum is an excellent dressing for soils in a good manurial condition : it supplies the lime needed by the tobacco, and acts as a solvent on the inert potash salts. Gypsum applied on poor land, how ever, hastens the exhaustion of the soil. It is said that crops manured with gypsum suffer less from the effects of drought, and require less irrigation, than when manured otherwise : the leaves of plants that had been manured with gypsum exhaling less water than when manured with other substances. If this assertion be correct, gypsum would be invaluable to the Indian cultivator.
With regard to the amount of manure to be employed, it may be observed that, with farmyard manure properly rotted, there is no theoretical limit, especially when the tobacco is intended for snuff, and is grown in a hot climate, where the physical properties of the soil are of the utmost importance. It is said that some Rhenish-Bavarian soils contain as much as 15 per ceut. of organic matter, yet the cultivator considers it necessary to heavily manure each tobacco crap. Dutch growers apply to the rich alluvial soil as much as 25 tons an acre of well-rotted cattle-manure. In America, it is reported that the heaviest crops are obtained on soil newly taken up, and very rich in vegetable mould. It is considered nearly everywhere that tobacco will pay best when heavily manured. The first care of even the poorest peasant in the tobacco districts of Germany, Holland, arc., as soon as he sells his tobacco, is to purchase the manure which he considers essential to his success.