Vol. IX. No. 2-2.5. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



599 



and stated that it was the same as Uredo vialae, Lagerh. 

 It forms pear-shajicd or broadly elliptical, warty, orange 

 spores of a moderate size. These are produced at the ends of 

 fertile hyphae, which Iireak through the epidermis in pustules. 

 The fertile hyphae are accompanied by curved, orange, sterile 

 hairs. According to Cockerell (Special FiiljUcations of t)ie 

 Institute of Jamaica, No. 3, p. 103), Massee found that the 

 cluster cup, or aecidial form of the fungus, also occurred on 

 the vine. By way of explanation, it may be stated that 

 most of these rust fungi have four different forms of spores — 

 aecidiosjiores, uredospores, teleutospores, and sporidia, the 

 last arising directly from the germination of the teleutospores. 

 Frequently the aecidiospores are formed on one host plant, 

 and when they germinate are only capable of infecting 

 a different host, on which the uredo- and teleutospores are 

 formed. (See Ar/ricultural News, Vol. IX, pp. 142 and 158.) 

 In the case of Uredo vitis, only the uredo- and aecidiospores 

 are known, and both of these are produced on the vine, so 

 that it is unlikely that infection is carried to vine leaves from 

 any other host plant. Cockerell (loe. cit.) calls attention to 

 an interesting point in connexion with the country from 

 which this fungus may have come, namely this; whether 

 it originated in the United States, and s[>read from there to 

 the West Indies, or if it existed for some time in the West 

 Indies, without being noticed, and then spread to the State.', 

 from which it was first reported. In the first case, it would 

 appear that a fungu.s, which was fast losing its vitality under 

 its native conditions, was enabled to regain vigour under the 

 warmer and damper conditions in these islands; while in the 

 second, the fungus can never have been very vigorous when 

 imported into the United States, l>ut was still able to cause 

 considerable damage in the West Indies The first alternative 

 seems the more proliaVjle, since the fungus appears to have 

 lost vigour in the West Indies, of recent years. When remed- 

 ial measures are required, the following may be recommended. 

 M'here one or two vines in a garden are badly attacked, it 

 would be advisable to pick off, and burn, dead or badly 

 infected leaves, and to spray the vines with Bordeaux 

 mixture. The same precautions would be found useful in 

 the case of one or two other diseases, such as mildew, which 

 occasionally attack grape vines in the West Indies. 



CIGAR 'lOBACCO GROWING IN 

 - . PENNSYLVANIA. 



SKED BEDS. Tlic Selected seed is first planted early in 

 the season in a warm seed bed, and transplanted when the 

 plants have attained proper maturity, and the soil and weather 

 have become suitable for their vigorous development. 



The seed is usually .sown about the first of April. 

 Tobacco seed is considerably smaller than clover seed, and is 

 therefore very difficult to distribute evenly. A convenient 

 wav of sowing is to stir a tablespoonftd nf seed into a 2-gal- 

 lon sprinkling can full of water, and then sprinkle the water 

 evenlv upon the bed. An even tablosponnful of seed will .sow 

 about 1 square rod. 



!Many growers mix the seed wit;h a convenient quantity 

 of dry w.ii'daslics to make a bulky mixture, and then sow the 

 mixture. 



As soon as the seed is sown, the muslin covering is 

 stretched over the bed and is removed only to water the soil 

 and to pull the weeds. In dry weather, it is necessary that 

 the beds be watered at least three or four times a week. 

 Care must be taken that too much water is not used, since 

 excessive moisture tends to favour various fungus diseases. 



PRKP.\RING THE SOIL. In Order to retain the soil mois- 

 ture, the tobacco land is ploughed early, and an occasional 

 harrowing given it up to the |)lanting time. Before planting, 

 it is cultivated thoroughly, so as to make the soil as 

 loose and mellow as possible. Stable manure is the 

 chief fertilizer, horse manure being considered especially 

 valuable, and this is sometimes ploughed under, and 

 sometimes applied on the top. Some growers state that 

 since they have discontinued the use of cow manure and 

 have used only horse manure, their percentage of 'calicoed' 

 tobacco has been less. A common dressing is 10 loads per 

 acre. The use of commercial fertilizers is increasing, but 

 they are not used as extensively as in Connecticut. Former- 

 ly the commercial tobacco fertilizers offered contained potash 

 in the form of chloride, with the resultant danger of injuring 

 the burn of the cigar. Now, however, the sulphate is used, 

 and sometimes the carbonate. Tobacco stems are frequently 

 liought from the manufacturers and used as a fertilizer. 



After the plants have grown to the height of 5 to 6 

 inches and have developed from five to seven leaves, they 

 have reached a desirable stage for transplanting. Before the 

 plants are pulled from the seed beds they should be thorough- 

 ly watered, in order that the small roots may not be torn off, 

 and that as much soil as possible may adhere to them. 



In drawing the young plants from the beds for trans- 

 planting, they should be taken up one at a time, and care 

 should be exercised to see that all diseased and injured plants 

 are discarded. 



TKANsrL.\NTiNG. The jdants are set out in rows, either 

 by hand, or with a planter. They are set from 18 to 30 

 inches aiuirt in the rows, and the rows are from 36 to 48 

 inches apart. The distance apart at which the plants arc set 

 depends upon the strength of the soil, and also upon the 

 variety and character of the tobacco. The plants of the 

 Pennsylvania broad-leaf tobacco are set from 24 to 30 inches 

 apart in the rows, and the rows are from 30 to 42 inches 

 apart. 



Some replanting is always necessary, and this is done 

 by hand, usually at a time when the weather conditions are 

 favouralile for starting plants. 



CULTIVATION. The field should be cultivated within eight 

 or ten da3'S after the plants Jiave been set. Just recently, 

 there has been placed upon the market a machine known as 

 the tobacco hoer. This machine is drawn by two horse.s, and 

 carries a driver and another man to operate the hoes. It is 

 a great labour-saving device, and works the soil as thoroughly 

 as does the hand hoe. 



The essential thing in cultivating is to keep a mulch on 

 the surface of the soil, and hence the cultivation must be 

 1 epeated after each rain. The hand hoe is used very exten- 

 sively, and also to good advantage, since it permits cultivation 

 closer to the plant than does the ordinary horse-power 

 machinery. In cultivating tobacco, the soil is always worked 

 toward the plant, and not away from it. The period of 

 cultivation ceases when the leaves have become so spread out 

 that a horse can no longer pass between the rows without 

 damaging the plants. (From Fariner's Bulletin 41G (October 

 1910), of the United States Department of Agriculture.) 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Coinniis.sioner of Agriculture return- 

 ed to Barbados by the R.M.S. 'Berbice', on November 29, 

 1910, from St. Lucia, after a visit to that Presidency 

 for the purpose of conferring with His Honour the 

 Administrator on official matters. 



