intended for the
manufacture of cigars. In the United States now and then
Havana seeds are planted. The tobacco raised therefrom
generally resembles the real Havana in shape and color of
leaves. But in order to reproduce approximately also the
fine taste and flavor of genuine Havana tobacco, it would be
required to impart to the soil exactly the components which
constitute the famous tobacco-ground, viz.: the soil of the
above-mentioned _Vuelta de Abajo_ in Cuba. We say
approximately, because the climate is a thing that can be
neither transplanted nor fully equaled by artificial means.
Havana seed propagated in the United States usually
degenerates very soon, even in the course of two or three
years. In other countries the experiment has been made to
acclimate foreign seeds, for instance, Havana, by crossing,
respectively changing the sexes and giving the male
influence now to the foreign, then to the home plant."

In the Connecticut valley the cultivation of Havana tobacco is
increasing year by year, and it promises to become the principal
variety cultivated. All of the leading qualities of Connecticut seed
leaf, such as color, strength, and texture, are preserved, while the
flavor is as fine as that of much that is imported. The plants
selected for seed should be allowed to fully ripen, when the leaves
may be stripped from the stalks, that the capsules may receive all the
strength of the growing and maturing plants. The seed plants should be
left standing some six or eight weeks after the other plants have been
harvested. If the nights are very cold and frosty, the top of the
plants may be covered with a light cloth or paper to protect the seed
buds.

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