REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURIST. 125 



and 300 pounds of cotton-seed meal per acre. The latter would, however, contain 

 nearly twice as much phosphoric acid." In other words, about four tons of barn-yard 

 manure would be needed, from which to obtain an equal amount of potash, as is con- 

 tained in the stalks from an acre, but one and a half tons of barn-yard manure will 

 furnish an equal amount of nitrogen. 



It will be seen then that potash and lime are specially requii-ed, and soils in 

 which these elements are present in large quantities produce a leaf of superior 

 burning qualities. 



Eaisinq Plants. 



Seed should be sown in a hotbed between the 10th and 20th of April; the latter 

 date is usually the right time for this locality. In twenty days the plants should 

 be ready to transplant to a cold frame in the manner already described. Such a 

 course of treatment as will produce good tomato plants may be pursued with every 

 assurance of success. 



The time of setting out will depend somewhat on the locality, it must not take 

 place till after all danger of frost is over — in this locality from May 24th to June 

 10th. 



Transplanting and Cultivating. 



The large leaved varieties should be set in rows, four feet apart and three feet 

 apart in the row. The rows are easily lined out with a corn marker. Three feet 

 apart each way will give suflScient space to the smaller growing sorts ; such as the 

 " Canadian " and the Turkish varieties. Although a cloudy day is preferable for 

 transplanting, yet if plants have been handled as above described, and carefully 

 taken up with a ball of earth attached to the roots of each, there is little need of 

 delaying the work by waiting for clouds or rain. Like all young plants frequent 

 cultivation is very necessary to the rapid growth of the tobacco plant, and the soil 

 should be stirred at least once in ten days, up to the period when the plants are 

 "topped." 



Priming and Topping. 



" Priming " is the term used to designate the removal of one or two of the 

 lower or primary leaves, which are inferior in size and frequently become torn and 

 injured by the cultivator. 



" Topping " is the more important operation of removing the flower stalk, with 

 one or more of the upper and smaller leaves. The energies of the plant are thus 

 diverted from the natural channel — the production of seed — to the more perfect 

 development of its leafy tissues. After topping, numerous suckers will appear in the 

 axils of the leaves j those should be promptly removed. 



Harvesting. 



It is difficult to describe with sufficient accuracy for identification, the appear- 

 ance of the tobacco leaf when it has arrived at the proper stage for cutting. The 

 proper time for harvesting is more easily pointed out in practice than intelligently 

 described. When maturity is reached the leaf loses its deep green, taking on a 

 yellow hue, which in some varieties is mottled with deeper markings of the same 

 colour. At this stage, if the tip of the leaf is doubled back, the mid rib will break 

 with a clean fracture. 



There are two principal methods of harvesting the crop : 



1. Cutting the plant at the ground, and hanging the whole stalk while it is 

 being dried. 



2. Stripping the leaves from the plants in the field as they ripen, and stringing 

 them on wires which are attached to laths, in such a manner as to allow each lath 



