When the capsules are of full size and brown in color, the top may be broken off and hung up in a dry, cool place to cure, after which the seeds should be taken from the capsules. To do this, the end of the seed buds may be cut, when most of the seeds will fall out if the buds are fully ripe and dry. A southern planter gives the following account of the curing and management of seed plants:—
"There are four classes of tobacco grown in Virginia and North Carolina, viz.: Shipping, filling, smoking, and wrapping; and it is important that planters desiring to raise either one of these should choose the kind of seed best adapted to each particular class. The Pryor makes the heaviest, richest shipping, and can only be grown to perfection on alluvial or heavily manured lands. The Frederick or Maryland grows larger, but is not so rich and waxy. The Oronoko is far preferable for fillers, smokers or wrappers, being sweeter in flavor, finer in fibre and texture, and more easily cured yellow. This is the kind best adapted to our gray soils, giving best returns. The product is not so large as on black or brown lands, yet with skill in curing and management, the difference in product is more than made up in quality.
"The Oronoko, therefore, is the only kind suited to our gray lands, and of this there are several varieties, the two most in favor being the yellow Oronoko, and the Gooch or Pride of Granville. The first is the kind that gave character to the Caswell (North Carolina) yellow tobacco more than twenty years ago, and is still preferred by a very large number of planters who grow the finest yellow smokers and wrappers. The latter is preferred in Granville county, North Carolina, that produces the finest yellow tobacco grown on this continent, or, perhaps, in the world. This latter is clearly an Oronoko tobacco, very much resembling the former, except that the leaf grows rather broader, and by some is considered sweeter. These two kinds have been grown with special reference to their adaptation to producing the finest quality of wrappers, smokers, and fillers. I am satisfied that the art of curing and management have not only been very far advanced toward scientific perfection, but that in perfecting the kinds of seed grown much improvement has been made. For instance, in the saving of seed, by adopting the plan of turning out the forwardest plants growing in the best soil, and afterwards observing to cut off all the heads of plants that ripen up coarse, narrow or ill-shaped, or of a green color on the hill, and saving only those heads that ripen yellow in color and of a smooth and fine texture, much has been done to improve the kind. Besides, the most important point in the saving of tobacco seed is to cut off all the lateral shoots, leaving only three crown shoots to perfect seed, thereby securing larger pods and more perfect seed that always ripen in good time, and are more reliable for seed beds and the production of early, vigorous plants.
"By following this mode of saving seed with special reference to the growth of a particular class of tobacco, in a few years the seed is not only greatly improved, but as like begets like in the vegetable as in the animal kingdom, becomes sui generis—the first of its species. The writer can bear testimony to the above facts and desires that others may profit thereby. Where any plant attains its highest perfection, there is the place to secure the best seed. The home of the tobacco plant is in Virginia and North Carolina, and the growth and perfection of the kinds here cultivated have reached a point unattained any where else. The West and South would do well to procure their seed from us, and then save and propagate after the instructions above given."
SECOND GROWTH.
The first account we find of raising a second crop of tobacco on the original field, is found in the early history of the Virginia colony; who, not satisfied with the vast amount cultivated in the usual manner, allowed a second growth to spring up from the parent stalk and thus obtained two crops from the same field in one year. The inferior quality of this growth at length caused its prohibition by law, as described elsewhere in this work. Of late, however, this "new departure" in tobacco culture seems to have attracted some attention, particularly in the Southern States, where numerous experiments have been made, and in some instances with complete success. In Mexico and also in Louisiana and California, two and even three crops are gathered, thus adding to the profit of the grower, but hardly to the fertility of the tobacco fields. Whatever the fertility of the tobacco field may be, or the care and attention given to the second crop by the planter, it can not equal the first crop, and must from the nature of the case be quite inferior in size, texture, and flavor of leaf.
Doubtless the varieties grown in the tropics will be much finer than the varieties grown in a more temperate region. There are many reasons why a second and third crop can not be equal to the first in the qualities necessary for fine leafy tobacco. In the first place, the soil will hardly produce a second crop of the size and texture of leaf that will compare with the first growth: the leaves will be small and resemble the top leaves of the original plant rather than the large, well-formed leaves of the center. Again, the season will hardly be favorable (unless in the tropics), for a second growth, which has much to do with the quality of the leaf and which alone ensures large, well-matured plants.
In the Connecticut valley but one crop can be grown of seed leaf, and even this when planted late is frequently overtaken by the "frost king" whose cold breath strikes a chill to the heart of the tobacco grower who has been so unfortunate as to have but a few plants; especially if his fields were "set" late in the season, or with "spindling" or "long shank plants" which come forward slowly and forbid all thought of a second growth, and sometimes give small hopes of even the first.
In Virginia and North Carolina the experiment has been tried of covering the stumps or trunk of the plants with straw, followed by plowing on both sides of the rows, thereby covering them to a depth of several inches, in which condition they are left until spring, when the covering is removed and the suckers or sprouts shoot forth and grow with great rapidity. This novel experiment may succeed so far as the growth and maturing of the plants is concerned, but will hardly add to the reputation of "Virginia's kingly plant" or to the profit of the growers, as the product must necessarily be small if the labor of transplanting is avoided.
Beyond all question, experiments with the growth and culture of the tobacco plant are among the most interesting and valuable, and afford the planter the most pleasure and instruction of all similar trials with the products of the vegetable kingdom. These experiments at once develop not only the rare qualities of the plant, but its various forms and habit of growth. They show as well as its adaptation to all countries and climes, and the preservation of its qualities when grown in regions far remote from its native home. The florist finds no more pleasure in the cultivation of the rarest exotic than the tobacco planter in testing some new variety of tobacco, and noting its varied qualities and adaptation to his fields. By trying new varieties, some of the finest qualities of the plant have been developed, and many other of its excellences still further advanced. In the United States numerous trials and experiments are constantly being made to still further perfect the various kinds already cultivated, as well as to test other varieties and note their qualities and adaptation to the soil. Already far advanced, the culture of the plant has not yet reached its highest point. The adaptation, soil, and fertilizers, are now attracting much attention, and further study of these elements promises to "bring out" qualities of leaf hitherto overlooked, or at least but partially developed.[Back to Contents]