An experienced Missouri grower, named Pursley, remarks that there “are more than twenty distinct varieties, of which I will only mention the most valuable:—The Yellow Prior, Blue Prior, Orinoco, Little Frederic, Big Frederic, Cuba, and Spanish tobacco. These are considered the most valuable in this State. The Yellow Prior and Orinoco are the most profitable. “I prefer the Yellow Prior, as it is the easiest cultivated and is the most fine and smooth of the many varieties. Some growers prefer the Orinoco, on account of it being the heaviest. I do not for various reasons: it has large stiff fibres and ruffled stalks, which afford hiding-places for insects; it moulds easier, is harder to cure, and generally does not bring as good a price as the Yellow Prior.” _Seed._—The best and strongest plants are selected for affording seed. These are not “topped” like the remainder of the crop, and are left standing when the crop is gathered. All suckers are carefully removed from the stems, and sometimes from the leaves also. When the crop is cut, the seed-stalks should be staked, to prevent their destruction by the wind. As soon as the seed-pods blacken, the seed is ripe; the heads are then cut off below the forks of the plant, and are hung in a dry and safe place to cure. Care must be taken to gather them before frost has impaired their vitality. During leisure time, the pods are stripped from the stalks, and the seed is rubbed out by hand, and winnowed. Its vitality is proved by its crackling when thrown upon a hot stove. _Seed-beds._—A very light friable soil is necessary for the seed-beds; to obtain this, it should be broken up to a depth of 1½ ft. some months before the sowing season. A drain is dug around the beds, and the soil is utilized in raising the surface. In America, a very warm and sheltered situation, such as the south end of a barn, is selected for the seed-beds. It is a common plan there to burn a brush-heap over the ground, thus supplying potash and killing weeds. The time for sowing in America is usually from the middle of March to the 10th of April, or as soon as the ground admits of working in the spring; in India, it depends upon the locality: when the monsoon rains are very heavy, it should follow them; in other cases, it may precede them. Unless the soil be very rich in humus, it should be heavily manured with well-preserved farmyard manure soon after breaking up. The soil of a tobacco nursery cannot contain too much organic matter; the presence of much humus will prevent, to a great extent, the formation of a surface crust, which is so detrimental to the development of the plants during their early growth, and will also facilitate the extraction of the plants when transplanting takes place. After a few weeks have elapsed, the soil should be dug over a second time, and the whole be reduced to a fine tilth. The land may now remain untouched until the sowing-time, unless weeds should spring up: these must be eradicated.