1G8 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



ON THE CULTURE AND CURING OF TOBACCO IN CALIFORNIA. . 



BY THOMAS EDWARDS, OF SACRAMENTO. 



FOR "WHICH WAS AWARDED THE FIRST PREMIUM. 



The raising of tobacco in this State is perhaps attended with more 

 difficulty than in the Eastern States, owing to the dryness of the soil at 

 the time of transplanting from the seed beds to the field where the 

 plants are to be grown. But this difficulty is more imaginary than real, 

 for if it is done with care and proper attention there will not one plant 

 in a hundred fail to grow. The system which I have followed for three 

 or four years with success, I hereby proceed to give in detail. 



4 



SEED AND SEED BEDS. 



The first essential point to get good plants is to procure good seed. 

 I prefer California grown seed, if selected with care, having reference to 

 quality more than quantity. If tobacco growers will select their best 

 specimen plants for seed, California will in a few years become as famous 

 for her fine tobacco as Cuba is now. 



The seed beds should be prepared about the first of February, and on 

 good soil, which is sufficient^ porous and friable, so as not to bake after 

 too great an application of water. The ground should be dug up deep, 

 and well pulverized, then covered with brush heaps, which should be 

 burned, as the heat kills the ant seed and larvae in the ground, which 

 would otherwise hatch in the early spring when the plants are young 

 and tender, to their great injury and oftentimes total destruction. The 

 deposit of ashes also strengthens and accelerates the growth of the 

 plants. After burning, dig the ground over so as to mix the ashes well 

 with the soil, then tramp it down well with the feet as eventy as possi- 

 ble, then rake very lightly with a fine iron or steel rake. Mix the seed 

 with ashes at the rate of one tablespoonful of seed to two quarts of ashes, 

 which will be sufficient to seed a bed of two hundred square feet. Sow 

 this mixture of seed and ashes as evenly as possible, and wet down well 

 with the sprinkling water pot. 



