, (and
more particularly when it is known that the earth must be
continually worked to make a good crop of tobacco, without
even regarding the heat of the sun, or the torrent of sudden
showers,) that, however lucrative this kind of culture may
be in respect to the intermediate profits, there is a
considerable drawback in the waste of soil."[72]

[Footnote 72: Liancourt in his Travels in North America,
says of tobacco culture in Virginia: "The nature of the
country beyond the James River is much more variegated
than on this side. At present they are preparing the
lands for the planting of tobacco. After having worked
the land it is thrown into small hillocks. * * * The
cultivation of tobacco, which has been very much
neglected during several years, is more followed this
year on account of the high price it bears in Europe;
but the soil has been so long worked with this
exhausting produce, and is so badly manured (for manure
is absolutely necessary for tobacco when the soil is not
newly broken up), that it is not capable of producing
good crops."]

In the Connecticut valley where tobacco is grown for wrapping
purposes, the selection of soil will depend upon the color of leaf in
demand (as the soil as well as the fertilizers determine in a measure
the color and texture of the tobacco). If the grower wishes to obtain
dark colored tobacco then the soil selected should be a dark loam; on
the other hand, if a light colored wrapper is desired he selects a
light loam, and with the application of proper fertilizers the proper
color will be obtained.

The tobacco plant flourishes well either on high or low ground,
providing the soil be dry and free from stones, which are a source of
annoyance during the cultivation of the plants and especially in
harvesting. When grown on very low ground the plants should be "set"
early, so as to harvest before early frosts. The plant may be
cultivated on such soil in almost any part of the valley excepting
only near the sound, or other body of salt water, the effect produced
by planting tobacco too near the sea, more especially in Connecticut,
being injurious to the leaf, which is apt to be thick and unfit for a
cigar wrapper. In some countries, however, the leaf grown n