STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 169 



For a field of ten acres there should be two or throe beds of this size 

 sown at different times, the second about the middle of February, and 

 the last the first of March; and more of these beds, if you have time 

 and inclination, so as to have plenty of plants from wbich to select only 

 the choicest. The plants in the seed beds should not be allowed to grow 

 so thick as to crowd each other, and should be kept free of weeds. The 

 safest time to transplant is in the month of May, although good tobacco 

 may be produced from plants set as early as April or as late as the first 

 of August, but the first are liable to injury by^ being broken down by the 

 high winds which prevail in the early part of the season, and the last to 

 be cut off by premature frost, as it would not mature before the latter 

 part of October. Plants which have leaves about the size of a half dol- 

 lar on the first of May, are suitable for transplanting. 



TRANSPLANTING TO THE FIELD. 



As weeds will begin to grow long before it is time to transplant the 

 tobacco, these must be kept down by shallow ploughing until the time 

 of removing the plants from the seed beds to the field; then the ground 

 should be ploughed deep, and afterwards harrowed, and rolled down, 

 and marked off in rows about three feet and a half apart. A good im- 

 plement to do the marking with is to take a piece of scantling ten and 

 a half feet long and set teeth at distances of three and a half feet apart; 

 then set teeth two feet apart to mark right angles, and at the places of 

 intersection set the plants. This will make the plants three and a half 

 by two feet. 



The most important part is now to come, and too much care and cau- 

 tion cannot be exercised to see that this part is well done, as a little 

 extra pains in planting will be well repaid. 



Let each man be provided with a convenient vessel in which to carry 

 his plants, and a sharpened stick to thrust to the bottom of the plant to 

 be raised, which should be done by a prying motion of the stick, being 

 careful not to injure the tap root of the plant extracted, nor damage the 

 adjoining plants not large enough to be used at the time. The water- 

 ing pot may be used upon the bed with benefit to the remaining plants, 

 after removing othei'S for the field plantation. 



If a stick or dibble is used to make the hole to receive the plant, be 

 sure that it is plunged sufficiently deep into the ground, so that the tap 

 root will not be doubled up on being inserted into its place, as this will 

 be fatal to its growth. The earth must be pressed firmly about the 

 root of the plant, which can be rapidly and effectively done by thrust- 

 ing the dibble each side of the hole in which it has been inserted. Set 

 no deeper than the plants grew in the seed beds. 



Supposing you have six hands, four should be employed in setting 

 plants, and one to follow with water, to put one half a pint in the dish- 

 like circle left around the plant by the person who set it. The sixth 

 man should follow with a basket of straw and put a small handful over 

 the plant, so as to cover it up immediately after it has received the 

 water. The straw should be raked off with a common garden rake two 

 or three days after the plant has been thus set. 



This process may seem tedious, but it insures the growth of nearly 

 every plant, however dry the soil, and the number of hands indicated 

 will set about six thousand in a day. 



22 



