188 ' BOARD OP AGRICULTUBE. 



seed bed in the spring. The best way is to plow it, level it 

 off with a rake, sow the seed, and roll it in. Some tread it 

 in, but the better Avay is to use the roller, for it leaves the 

 bed more smooth. 



Mr. Low. How many square rods are required for one 

 acre ? 



Mr. Allen. I raised five acres this year, and I had a bed 

 about as long as this room is wide [some forty feet] and eight 

 feet wide. 



Mr. Low. It takes a very small amount of fertilizers for 

 that small amount of land ? 



Mr. Allen. Very small. You can raise an enormous 

 number of plants from a small bed. Considerable skill is re- 

 quired is sowing the seed. If it is too thick, the plants will 

 be worthless, because they will be all crowded together, and 

 spindle up, and have neither root nor top that is good for any- 

 thing. You want a tobacco plant with a thick mass of roots 

 and a stocky top ; not a top that runs up high, but a round, 

 thick, heavy top. That is tlie kind of plants wanted, and 

 gentlemen who are accustomed to sow the seed can get it 

 thick enough. The old-fashioned rule was a thimble full of 

 tobacco seed to a square x'od. I sow a little more, in order 

 to be sure to have seed enough, and if it comes up too thick, 

 I thin out, and leave the plants standing just as thick as I 

 want them. 



I do not know that I need say any thing more in regard to 

 the seed bed. I think I have heard it said that tobacco plants 

 will not be injured by frosts. That is an error. Tobacco 

 plants will be killed by heavy frosts, and it is some times nec- 

 essary, especially for the first few days, to protect them. 

 When the seed is sown my plan is to cover the bed with birch 

 brush, or some fine brush — something that will cover the bed. 

 I cover it thick, and it serves a double purpose ; first, to keep 

 the ground moist, and prevent the wind from blowing the seed 

 off, for it lies very near the surface, and secondly, to protect 

 it from the frost. I leave that on until the plants come up 

 and get large. I find that they grow better under this shelter 

 than they would with the brush off. I take off the brush when 

 the plants need weeding, and sometimes put it back again. 



