Tests of the effects of MH on certain aspects of flue-cured tobacco quality, carried out on Georgia and Middle Belt tobaccos from the 1956 American crop, indicate that this method of sucker control can be expected to disturb the balance of the principal chemical components in the leaf. This disturbance is characterized by a reduction in ash alkalinity, and in the content of alkaloids, crude fiber and petroleum ether extractives, and in a rise in soluble sugars. Changes in physical properties include loss of filling value. The significance of these changes in cigarette manufacture is discussed with the conclusion that they are injurious to cigarette quality and hence impair the acceptability of the tobacco. However; since they are not invariably in evidence it seems possible that any gross deleterious effects of MH on quality might be eliminated by suitable field practices or modifications in its method of application. It seems c1ear that research to this end needs to be carried out before MH comes to be used on a large scale if the quality of American flue-cured tobaccos is to be maintained.

(Full article published with kind permission from "Tobacco International")