On the same subject, White recommends the planter on the “next, or at farthest, the second morning after having set your plants, go over to see that the worms do not eat up one-half of them. You can tell where they are and have been, by seeing a plant with a single leaf, and sometimes the whole plant eaten off and drawn down into the hole occupied by a large brown or black worm; you will see little ant-hills like, and round holes in the ground; by poking around a little in the dirt, you will find a worm very near the mouth of these little holes. Destroy it, and all you can find, and thus save your crop. This searching for worms must be kept up till they cease to do mischief. All plants missing in the field should be renewed from the bed at the first opportunity. The morning is the best time to find the worms, as they are near the surface of the ground; later, they retire into the ground to appear again near sundown, and work during the night and early morning.”
Thomas describes tobacco worms as “hatched from eggs deposited by what is called the ‘tobacco fly.’ It is a large, dusky-brown, winged miller, nearly as large as a humming-bird. It lays its eggs on fair evenings and moonlight nights in July and August. It can be seen almost any clear evening, among what are called ‘Jimson-weeds,’ sucking the flowers. The eggs will hatch out in 24 hours, and the worms commence eating when less than ½ inch long, and continue to eat till they attain the length of 4–5 inches. One worm, in 6 weeks, will destroy a plant so completely as to render it utterly valueless. This pest is vastly more numerous in some seasons than in others. Four years ago there were scarcely any; but for the last three years they have been destructively numerous. The worming of the crop, when they are numerous, is, by far, the most disagreeable and tedious labour attending it. Much of the value of the crop depends upon the care or inattention of performing this part of the work. The crop may have been planted in good time—ploughed, hoed, primed, suckered, topped, cut, and cured well; yet it may have been so riddled by worms as to be comparatively good for nothing in market; hence, they must be picked off and destroyed, and that promptly.”
Topping and Suckering.—The plants will commence to flower about two months after planting, when 2–7 feet high. When the flower-buds appear, they must be broken off, and with them the top and bottom leaves. By breaking off the flower-buds at an early date, the sap that would be used in the formation of these organs flows to the leaves, which thereby increase in size, and the outturn becomes much heavier than when the plant is allowed to flower. But it is generally admitted that the leaves lose much in aroma. To what extent the early removal of the flower-buds impairs the quality has not been properly investigated. It is very probable that the greater yield does not always compensate for the loss in quality. The bottom leaves are generally of inferior quality, small, torn, and dirty. The number of leaves to be left on the plant varies greatly, according to species, quality of soil, and method of cultivation. The minimum may be placed at 6, the maximum at 22. The only rule to be observed is to retain as many leaves as the plants are able to mature. Soon after the plants have been topped, suckers appear in the axils of the leaves; these should be broken off as soon as they come, at least they should not be allowed to grow longer than 4 inches. If the suckers are not removed soon after their appearance, the size of the leaves will be seriously impaired. After the plants are half-grown, great care must be taken when going through the lines, whether for the purposes of hoeing, watering, or suckering, &c., not to tear the leaves. In India, hoeing and suckering should be performed only when the leaves have lost part of their turgescence, attained at night. Insects, however, must be killed during the morning and evening; at other times, they are not easily found. Leaves which are torn are not fit for cigar-wrappers, and must often be thrown on the refuse heap as valueless, even if well developed and of good colour.
The plants commence to ripen about three months after being planted; this is indicated by the leaves assuming a marbled appearance, and a yellowish-green colour. The leaves also generally become gummy, and the tips bend downwards. It is considered that tobacco intended for snuff should have attained more maturity than tobacco for smoking. Nessler found that the less ripe leaves contained more carbonate of potash, and burnt consequently better, than the more ripe ones, but the total amount of potash was larger in the latter than in the former; cigars made from less ripe leaves kept the fire when lighted for a shorter time than those made from more ripe leaves.
In the words of Judson Popenoe, the “tobacco is ready to top when the button (as the blossom or top of the stalk is called) has put out sufficiently to be taken hold of, without injury to the top leaves. As tobacco is not regular in coming into blossom, it is the usual practice to let those stalks that blossom first, run a little beyond their time of topping, and then top all that is in button as you go. There is no particular height to top at, but as a general thing 16 to 18 leaves are left; judgment is necessary to determine where to top; if topped too high, 2 or 3 of the top leaves are so small as not to amount to much; if topped low, the tobacco spreads better; if just coming out in top, reach down among the top leaves, and with thumb and forefinger pinch the top or button off below 2 or 3 leaves; if well out in top, break off several inches down from the button and 4 or 5 leaves below it. As soon as the tobacco is topped, the suckers begin to grow; one shoots out from the stalk at the root of each leaf, on the upper side. When the top suckers are 3–4 inches long, the suckering should be done; with the right hand take hold of the top sucker, with the left take hold of the next, close to the stalk, and break them off, and so proceed, using both hands, stooping over the stalk, taking care not to injure the leaf. Break the suckers about half-way down the stalk, the balance being too short to need removing until the second suckering. In about 2 weeks from topping, the tobacco is ready to cut; now give it the last worming and suckering, breaking all suckers off down to the ground, and remove every worm, if you don’t want your tobacco eaten in the sheds.”
Another process, called “priming” by Schneider, is thus described by him. “The object of priming is to break off the leaves that come out too near the ground, which, when large, lie flat on it, and therefore rot or get dirty. This work should be done early, the sooner the better, so that the plant does not lose much strength by their growing. These leaves must not be torn off, especially not downward, because the plant would be injured, and instead of throwing the strength gained into the other leaves, it would be thrown away to heal the wound. The distance from the ground at which this priming should be done, depends upon the variety grown and upon the time at which the work is done: 4–6 inches is the right distance. This priming is not done by every one. One farmer may practise it, while his neighbour does not; but sorts the lower leaves separately, and sells them as so-called ‘lugs,’ for which he gets a little over half the price of the good upper leaves. Those who do not prime, must generally top lower, or they must risk that the whole plant, or at least the upper leaves, will not mature fully.
“Topping is done to throw the strength, which would go to develop seeds, into the leaves. It must, therefore, be done as early as the seed-buds show themselves, if not earlier. This work must be done, and the question is, how to do it. If there are but few leaves on the plant, even these will not ripen, if it is not topped; if there are many, then the grower has the choice either to break off the flower-stalk only or to take off one or more leaves also. This should be done in answer to the questions: 1st. Is there time enough to ripen even the upper leaves fully? and, 2nd, Are the plant and the soil strong enough to ripen all leaves, even the upper ones? The answers to these queries will decide the way of topping. If yes, he takes off the flower-stalk only; if no, he tops to 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16 leaves, according to his judgment, that is, he allows so many leaves to remain as will have a good fair chance of reaching maturity.”
As Bishop remarks, cultivators are not agreed on the time and place for topping tobacco plants. “Some favour the plan of topping as soon as the blossom-buds appear, others prefer to wait until in blossom. I think there is no harm in letting the earliest plants bloom before being topped, but after once beginning, they should be broken off as soon as the buds begin to look yellow, and the latest plants as soon as the buds appear. A new beginner will be apt to top the plants too high. The object is to ripen and develop as many leaves as the plant can support; if topped too high, the top leaves are small, and when cured are nearly worthless, and the other leaves are not as large or heavy, whereas, if topped too low, then you lose one, two, or three leaves, which the plant might have supported. As a general rule, a plant just in blossom should be topped down to where the leaves are full 7 inches wide, leaving on the stalk from 15 to 18 leaves. This will leave the stalks about 2½ feet high in good tobacco. Later in the season, top the plants sooner and lower. Let as many of the earliest plants as will be wanted remain for seed. One plant will furnish seed enough to put out 5 acres, at least. These should be wormed and suckered like the rest, only leaving the suckers above where you would ordinarily break it off, were you to top it. The piece should now be looked over every other day, to break off the suckers and catch the worms. This should be done as soon as the dew is off in the morning, and towards night, as the worms are eating then, and can be found more readily, while in the heat of the day they remain hid. Great care should be taken not to break off the leaves while going through it, as they are nearly all wasted before the crop is ripe. As soon as the top is broken off, the sap is thrown into the leaves, causing them to expand rapidly. In the meantime suckers will start out just above where each leaf joins the stalk; these must be broken off, or the growth of the leaf will be checked, as the sap will be thrown into these young sprouts. Those nearest the top will start soonest, and will require breaking off twice before the plant is ripe; those at the bottom must all be broken off. This is the hardest and slowest work of all. Not only will these suckers check the growth of the plants, but if allowed to grow will soon break or pry off the leaves, or cause them to grow out at right angles from the stalk, rendering them more liable to be broken off. It is a good plan to have a piece of corn on the north side of a piece of tobacco, or, at least, two or three rows, to shield the growing plants from winds.”
Priming is defined by Thomas as “pulling off the bottom leaves to the number of 4 or 5,” and he says that any plant large enough to be topped ought to be primed first. All conditions being favourable, he considers that in Ohio, a “tobacco plant will ripen in as many weeks, from the time of topping it, as there are leaves left on the stalk. Consequently, if the topping is done early, it can be topped high, if later, it must be done lower, and if still later, still lower. Planters differ very much at this point. Some will top as high as 16 leaves, others 10, and a great many at 8. My own opinion is, that a plant topped at 10 will weigh as much as one at 16, topped at the same time, and on the same kind of land. About a week after a plant has been topped the suckers will begin to grow. A sucker is only an auxiliary branch which shoots out at the junction of the leaves to the stalk. If not removed, they will grow, and bloom, and ripen seed, and in doing so they will ‘suck’ the parent-stem of much of its vitality. When the crop of suckers are about 1 inch long they can be pulled or rubbed off, and it should surely be done. In about a week or 10 days a second crop of them will appear. These must also be promptly removed, and then the third crop will show itself, which must be similarly treated. The longer they are permitted to remain on the plant, the more they retard its development, and delay its maturity.”