Southern field crops (exclusive of forage plants) . The number of leaves left varies greatlj^ among the differenttypes. In hea^-j tobacco, it is usualh 8 to 10, in Burley at least14, in Cuban at least 16 ; in shade-grown Sumatra or moreleaves may be permitted to mature. With Sumatra tobacco,grown under shade, topping is sometimes omitted if the land isvery rich, the aim in this case being to make the leaves thinnerthan if the plants were topped. 524. Suckering. — Soon after the plants are topped,branches or suckers grow from the axils of the should be pinched or broken off bef
Southern field crops (exclusive of forage plants) . The number of leaves left varies greatlj^ among the differenttypes. In hea^-j tobacco, it is usualh 8 to 10, in Burley at least14, in Cuban at least 16 ; in shade-grown Sumatra or moreleaves may be permitted to mature. With Sumatra tobacco,grown under shade, topping is sometimes omitted if the land isvery rich, the aim in this case being to make the leaves thinnerthan if the plants were topped. 524. Suckering. — Soon after the plants are topped,branches or suckers grow from the axils of the should be pinched or broken off before they havereceived much of the plants supply of nourishment. Thisprocess of suckering, or remo\ing of suckers, should bedone at such frequent intervals as to prevent their reach-ing a length of much more than 2 inches. The object insuckeririg is to prevent the diversion of plant-food andgro-nd^h into these branches and to concentrate growthin the best or middle leaves. 525. Growing tobacco under shade. — It has been 536 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS. Fio. 220. — Young Tobacco Plants crowing under a Lath Shade IN TOBACCO 537 found by experience that tobacco grown under artificialshade affords the highest quality of cigar wrappers and thelargest proportion of leaves fit for this use. This is thecommon method of growing Sumatra and Cuban tobaccofor cigar wrappers. A shade consists of a field inclosed by a solid woodenwall about 9 feet high, the entire area of the field being coveredat this height with thin cotton cloth or with laths (Fig. 220).The purpose is (1) to exclude a part of the sunlight, therebymaking the leaves thinner, and (2) to increase the amount ofmoisture in the air and the soil, the result of which is a luxuriantand rapid growth. Shade-grown tobacco plants grow tall,often standing 9 feet high. They mature a large number ofthin elastic leaves. When laths are used, they are usually so arranged as to affordhalf shade ; that is, the space between laths is eq
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