[18]

17

and composition of the plant itself.

I will take these several subjects up in the order named above.

I Tobacco Soils.

In determining the question as to what constitutes fine tobacco land or what element is fatal to the growth of the yellow colored leaf, the inquiry must embrace the important matter of drainage. Tobacco is a plant which delights in a dry warm soil, requiring comparatively little moisture and in no respect do these lands differ more widely from other lands than in through drainage. While such lands are very [runny?] in wet weather, so that it is difficult to drive a wagon, or even to ride over them, the top soil is always dry and warm. There is a difference of opinions as to new lands. In Western counties where the growth of tobacco is quite recent, new land is almost altogether planted, but in old tobacco counties