State Agricultural Society. 489 



end of the season, the rule above enunciated may be adopted as a work- 

 ing one. But the rational plan is to take the end aimed at into view and 

 keep it there. The end aimed at, is the production of the greatest 

 amount of cured leaves, of good quality. In order that they may be of 

 proper quality, they must, first, not be too thick; therefore, where a 

 plant is growing rankly, the date early in the season, and all outlooks 

 good, all the leaves it will produce and all the suckers too (for awhile) 

 may be wanted to dispose advantageously of its exuberant assimilation 

 of plant food and formation of plant material. If, on the other hand, 

 the plant be growing indifferent^, or the date late in the season, so that 

 it may be supposed the whole powers of the plant will be required to 

 mature the leaves, suckers ought to be kept down from the start. Or 

 suppose the plant growing vigorously enough, yet there be reason to 

 fear that moisture may fail it later — (as in some soils underlain by 

 gravelly subsoil) — then its growth during the fore part of the season is 

 about all that it will make at all; in this case, again, the whole strength 

 of the plant ought to be thrown at that time into a proper number of 

 leaves. Or if the planter find that his soil (from whatever peculiarity) 

 is actually drying out at a depth of five or six inches below the surface, 

 he is to govern himself accordingly, and see that he secures the best use 

 out of the brief remaining period of growth. For when moisture is. 

 withdrawn, the leaves stop growing " all at once;" they begin to yel- 

 low, and the plant throws its remaining strength into the stalk — which 

 then shoots up to form the seed pod, with leaflets two inches or three 

 inches long on it. 



Other considerations besides these above suggested will also present 

 themselves to the mind of the planter as he brings the crop along, and 

 direct his action. He may foresee th^t it will be expedient to send the 

 hoes through again this month or ncSKt, and modify the work accord- 

 ingly; which suggests the remark here, that no expense for which the 

 well doing of the plants appears to call, is to be spared on a tobacco 

 crop. The plants are to have all the labor that will do them any real 

 good, and they will repay it again and again. In a general way, it is 

 the extra labor that makes the extra growth, and it is the extra growth 

 that makes the greatest profit. A poor crop costs nearly as much, at 

 best, as a good one. To secure the best net results from tobacco, the 

 question with the planter ought not to be, "Can this or that expense be 

 spared without injury?" but, "Can this or that expense be bestowed 

 with real benefit?" Whenever the last- question be answered affirma- 

 tively, and the answer is acted up to, the result will pay " every time." 



In suckering, the work is done with both hands, commencing at the 

 top of the plant and working down, being particular to get every one 

 and not to break leaves. This requires care, to avoid, especially in 

 breaking out large suckers, which are apt to whip the leaf beneath and 

 break its edge. This work can be done about three times as fast as a 

 man thinks it can when he starts in. 



The total cost of cultivating, worming, and suckering, including use 

 of horses and tools, feed consumed, etc., may be calculated at one dollar 

 per thousand plants. It will probably fall twenty per cent withiu this. 



TOPPING AND CUTTING. 



The last paper of this series on tobacco culture concluded the subjects 

 62— (■*'») 



