76 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



When all danger of frosts is over in the spring, and this date 

 is considered about the 5th of June as a limit, the plants are 

 removed from the beds and set in the field with the aid of a 

 Bemis transplanter. This machine is handled by three men and 

 two horses. One man drives and the other two feed the plants 

 into the machine. The operation is simple and when handled by 

 experienced men, the machine can transplant as high as two 

 acres of tobacco a day. At each complete movement, the ma- 

 chine makes a hole, empties into it a small quantity of water, 

 drops a plant and rolls the earth firmly in place about the roots. 

 It is sometimes the practice to add a little nitrate of soda to the 

 water in the machine. This encourages the plant to get a quick 

 start and supplies food until the roots reach the fertilizer whic'i 

 has been broadcasted on the field. The plants are set 15 inches 

 apart, considerably closer than when tents are used. The close 

 proximity of the plants to each other in the row helps make 

 shade and holds moisture so that the quality of the tobacco is 

 materially affected for the good. 



The best growing season is the same for tobacco as it is for 

 corn and the warm nights are a great help. In a cold season 

 the leaves generally grow rather darker than when rapid growth 

 has been produced. The crop demands high tillage throughout 

 the growing season and ordinary cultivators are used in the 

 control of weeds 'and maintaining the dust mulch. Hand hoe- 

 ing is practiced the same as on corn. 



The plants when mature often reach the height of seven or 

 eight feet, ^^'hen the blossoms appear the foreman sends a 

 crew through the field to break them off, as the formation of 

 pollen and seeds is of no value, and the growth is forced into 

 the leaves. 



About the middle of August the first picking takes place. 

 This consists of removing the lower four or five leaves which 

 are taken to the drying sheds to commence the process of cur- 

 ing. The usual practice is to make about four pickings at 

 intervals of ten days to two weeks, the last one being made 

 as late as possible before killing frosts. This last picking takes 

 all of the leaves, the main stalk being left on the field. Mr, 

 Smith simply plows this collection of stalks into the soil for 

 another crop, or spreads them on the grass land for top dress- 

 ing. In Connecticut, these stalks are ground and spread on the 



