REPORTS ON CROPS. 291 



all these things, is praclically unanimous that no other crop 

 pays so well. It would be tedious to write out at length the 

 details of its treatment, and in regard to some of them suc- 

 cessful cultivators differ considerably. But all agree that 

 the soil must be warm and loose, that it must be prepared by 

 thorough pulverizatioji and very liberal manuring, and that 

 whatever else on the farm is neglected the tobacco crop must 

 be cared for thoroughly and at the right time. For fertili- 

 zing barnyard manure is the main reliance, but no kind of 

 fertilizer that acts promptly comes amiss. After the plant re- 

 covers from the shock of transplanting it grows very rapidly, 

 and the care and labor of the cultivator can hardly be inter- 

 mitted for a single day untilit issafe in thecuringshcds. For 

 fast as the crop may grow the weeds will keep pace with it if 

 permitted, and cut worms and leaf worms will harvest the 

 unripe crop for you unless a war of extermination is waged 

 against them. And as the value of the crop lies in the leaf, 

 its tendency to mature seed must be sternly repressed by 

 " topping" and "suckering". Good judgment and experi- 

 ence are necessary in determining just where to break the 

 top, the object l)eing to leave upon the plant those leaves and 

 only those that will grow to fair size and be of good quality. 



When the crop is ripe, a point i)ivolving some practical 

 knowledge for its determination, it is to be cut, wilted slight- 

 ly, then moved to the curing sheds, and hung therein with as 

 little bruising and breakage as possible. The largest sized 

 plants require about a foot square of space horizontally, by 

 five feet in depth, to cure safely. The usual practice is to 

 give them air very freely at first, diminishing the exposure as 

 the curing process goes on. When it is thoroughly cured, 

 advantage must be taken of all damp spells of weather to 

 take it down, strip off" the leaves, and sort them for market. 



I am not able to give much of the statistical information 

 asked for in your circular. I should judge an average crop 

 of tobacco to be sixteen hundred pounds per acre. Of this 

 twelve hundred pounds should be " wrappers," and four hun- 

 dred " seconds" and " fillers." At 80 cents for the wrap- 

 pers and 8 cents for the balance, this would yield |392 per 



