TOBACCO. 199 



than any other crop. A crop of potatoes prepares the land 

 admirably for almost anything ; you can get almost anything 

 to grow after potatoes ; at any rate, it is so with us ; but corn 

 is the worst crop you can put on a piece of land to prepare it 

 for tobacco. It takes moi'e of the vitality out of the soil than 

 anything else I raise. 



Mr. Day exhibited a specimen of tobacco, which he said 

 was raised in Windham county, and inquired if the soil of 

 that county was adapted to the growth of the plant. 



Mr. Allen. I was at Mr. Sumner's a few yeu,rs ago, and 

 he asked me the same question. I replied that 1 did not see 

 any thing in the character of the soil about there to prevent 

 their raising a good quality of tobacco. I am not familiar 

 with the land of Windham county, and cannot answer your 

 question very intelligently. I was asked the same question 

 in Woodstock, and replied that I thought good tobacco could 

 be raised there. There is good tobacco land there, but liow 

 it is in otlier towns, I don't know. 



Dr. Riggs. I would like to say a word in regard to sowing 

 the beds. Tlie great difficulty is in getting the seed even. 

 My mode is to take a common watering pot, with holes large 

 enough to admit of the passage of the seeds and water freely, 

 fill it with water, and go over the bed, keeping the water ag- 

 itated all the time. Covering the bed with brush, I maintain, 

 not only attracts the sun but retains the heat after it has once 

 penetrated through the branches. 



Mr. Day. There is another question to which I shou'd like 

 to call Mr. Allen's attention. It is in regard to the cultivation 

 of tobacco upon comparatively light, worn-out soils, that need 

 renovating. I know that it requires a large amount of ma- 

 nure to bring these lands into the high state of cultivation 

 necessary for the production of tobacco, and what I want to 

 inquire is, whether it is more profitable to expend a large 

 amount of money for manure or to sow buckwheat on tliese 

 lighter lands, and as soon as the buckwheat is sufficiently 

 matured, before it begins to seed, turn it under, and in the 

 early part of September, perhaps, put on rye, with some stim- 

 ulant, like superphosphate, guano, or ashes, and induce an 



