Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Apr. 7, 2008). Thesis advisor: H. P. Denton. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 23, 2009). Thesis advisor: Carrie Ann Stephens. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Mar. 6, 2009). Thesis advisor: Brian Leib. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Maleic hydrazide (MH) applications have been standard practice for sucker control in burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) production for the last half-century because it is relatively inexpensive, effective and easy to apply. Non-MH suckercides such as fatty alcohols and local systemics can be utilized to reduce or replace MH and lower undesirable residues in the cured leaf. The objective of this study was to evaluate various nozzle types and arrangements for efficiency to determine if sucker control with fatty alcohol could be consistently improved over the currently used TG3-5-3 arrangement, as well as examine sprayer positioning (center vs. off-center) and leaf orientation variables using artificial plants. In the field study, the TG4-6-4 arrangement performed the best (p<0.05) when applying the same volume per hectare providing 80% sucker control with fatty alcohol only, not significantly different (p>0.05) than MH+Butralin treatment. For the artificial plant study, the TG4-6-4 provided more solution collected (p<0.05) at leaf axils as well as the highest percent of solution intercepted. Sprayer position and leaf orientation had less effect on solution intercepted with this arrangement than it did with the TG3-5-3. Results from this study support a recommendation of the TG4-6-4 over the TG3-5-3 for the application of contact chemicals for sucker control in burley tobacco.

This thesis addresses the Burley Tobacco Buyout Program and its impact on three local economies. Data collection involved obtaining information from government reports, internet sources, public documents, agriculture offices, federal agriculture officials, and books. Personal interviews were conducted with 32 farmers in Sullivan County, Tennessee; Washington County, Virginia; and Watauga County, North Carolina. This study is significant because it addresses not only the decline of an agricultural product but also changes in a way of life in Southern Appalachia. The future of burley tobacco growing in this region appears to be bleak because of foreign market competition and decreasing domestic demand. From the personal interviews, many farmers had already abandoned tobacco production and older respondents were often planning to stop all farming practices. Specifics of the federal government-mandated Buyout Program to compensate quota holders and growers are presented, as well as the experiences and opinions of farmers regarding this program.

1. Steam sterilization of the tobacco plant bed did not control ringspot. 2. The virus was not transmitted from diseased to healthy plants by the common tobacco flea beetle (Epitrix parvula) although they lived and multiplied on tobacco plants within the cages. 3. The cucumber flea beetle (Epitrix cucumeris), leaf hopper (Empoasa fabea), Aphis (Macrosiphum solanifolii) and the lightning bug (Photinus scintillans) did not survive when caged on tobacco, and no infection was obtained with them. The tobacco worm (Phlegethontius quinquemoculata) survived but did not transmit ringspot. 4. Stick weed, sometimes called yellow crown beard, (Verbisina alternifolia) and sweet clover (Melilotus alba) were found naturally affected with ringspot, infection was readily obtained on tobacco with the expressed juice from these plants. 5. Twenty-five other species of weeds were tested for ringspot with negative results. 6. The rate of spread of the disease was not definitely determined. 7. The percentage of ringspot infection in ten counties in Virginia in 1927 was 2.5. In Washington County in 1928 it was 3 per cent, and in 1929, 7.6 per cent. 8. There was an average injury of 20 per cent to the affected plants 9. It is estimated that ringspot caused a total loss of $12,768.00 in Washington County in 1929. / M.S.