Relation of Wood Colour in Burley Tobacco Stalks to Nicotine Content of the Leaves

The colour of Burley tobacco stalks was found to be correlated with nicotine content of the leaves. The wood varies from oyster white to pumpkin in colour; the lighter the coloUr the less nicotine. Correlation coefficients between wood colour index and percent nicotine ranged between .81 and .84 which was highly significant at the .01 Ievel of probability. These results indicate that percent nicotine in Burley tobacco can be reliably estimated by using the simple, rapid, and wood in inexpensive wood colour index for classification of plants. Colour photographs to illustrate these differences are included