Quote:
Originally Posted by shilala
The hell of it is that there's plenty of 2007's out there for people to call them on the 2012's. They can't slip, or the shelves will stack to the roof with BBF's. Or they'll just stick an EL Band on them and crank them out at twice the buck. 
They really do have a "can't lose" product. Their tobacco is so remarkable and different that they can push every pound out the door.
They're only limited by the size of the growing region as to how much tobacco they can crank out.
You'd think, that after so many years, it really doesn't so much come down to the soil anymore. It's got to be about spent, at least to the point where they have to use fertilzers. Maybe not, I don't know the composition of their soil at all. Maybe that it's being volcanic in origin it breaks down very slowly and it'll remain viable for years to come. I'm sure that info isn't readily available. |
I found this:
"Cuban" Soil: Myth & Fact
Soil consists of a rock, decaying organic matter, air and airborne gases, water, microorganisms, and living roots. Soil varies with the type of vegetation, climate, and parent rock material. Soil fertility is determined in part by texture, chemical composition, water supply, and temperature. It can be maintained or improved by fertilizers or by cultivation practices, such as cover crops and crop rotation. tobacco plant
Tobacco plant at 3-4 days after emergence.
The rock matrix supports the plant physically, and allows penetration of roots through spaces between the rock particles, along with the components listed above. Going from the finest to the coarsest particle size, we have clay, sand, loam, or a combination of them, e.g., sandy loam. Tobacco prefers sandy loam. The chemical nature of the rock particles can determine the "pH"(acidity vs. alkalinity) of the soil, and often must be adjusted with applications of minerals.
The organic material that makes up the humus is important in providing the natural nutrients the plant needs. Fertilization is almost universally needed for the soil to be capable of providing all those necessary for tobacco's growth and health.
Rainwater is distilled water, but it can carry airborne dust and other particulate matter to the plants, albeit temporarily and in minute quantities. Ground water, though, can carry dissolved underground materials from distant sources to the plant's roots, helping or hindering its growth.
Air and naturally-occurring gaseous elements, e.g., chlorine, in contact with the root system can also affect the plant's well-being.
The farmer faces all these variables when he begins the planting process, when selecting the microcosm that will best suit his plants' needs. This is where the concept of "Cuban" soil fails ... Cuba has no patent on its soil. Worldwide, micro-regions have soils that are essentially identical to the soil in places in Cuba. Also, just as different brands of Cuban cigars can taste different, one can find different soils in different Cuban provinces, different farms, and even different locations on any given farm. Since soil is not uniform from place to place, how can anyone define "Cuban" soil?
The once-prime tobacco-growing regions of Cuba ... notably Vuelta Abajo, Santa Clara, Pinar del Rio, Artemisa ... underwent the most epochal change in their soil composition in 300 years of development, when the Cuban regime plowed tobacco under and grew sugar for Russia for 20 years after the Embargo. Sugar, a perennial, is avaricious in stripping nutrients from the soil, and it is estimated that these growing regions may need another 50 years to return to prime tobacco land. If Cuban soil had magical powers for plant growth, why must Spain supply the island with thousands of tons of fertilizer annually?
Few, younger smokers have any idea what damage the Marxist regime really wreaked on Cuba's tobacco industry in the 1960s and beyond. To them, the revolution and embargo are vague concepts. In addition to degrading the farmland, Castro also disbanded Cuban Land, the island's leading tobacco research institute, along with all others, and reassigned tobacco researchers and farmers to the production of sugar. Virtually none of the voluminous agricultural archives were considered valuable, and therefore discarded. Luckily, some researchers and growers had the foresight to personally retain some records. In his ongoing associations with these peer specialists, Vogel succeeded in obtaining some of those data. These records, and his decades of experience as an agronomical engineer and geneticist, enabled him to use this priceless soil analyses. Vogel now had the information he needed to replicate the optimal growing conditions for his unique bank of pre-Embargo Cuban seeds.