SEED AND PLANT DISTRIBUTION. 73 



When the plants arc drawn for transplanting, great care should be 

 taken to get as much root as possible. Each person doing this work 

 should be provided with a bucket of water, and as soon as the plants 

 are drawn tin 1 roots should be washed to remove all soil that may have 

 stuck to them. The plants are then placed in a basket, roots down, 

 and are immediately set out. The washing of the roots is not gen- 

 erally practiced, but it has been found that plants live and grow better 

 when the roots are clean. After each drawing of the plants from the 

 bed. the soil should )>e watered, in order to close up the places from 

 which the plants have been taken. 



The soil selected for this tobacco should be a light gray sandy loam 

 or sand with a sand or clay subsoil, provided the clay is not closer 

 to tin 1 surface than \-J. or L5 inches. In order to produce a light, thin 

 wrapper, the sandy soil must be very rich and a large quantity of 

 fertilizer is necessary. The land should be broken up in November 

 or December, allowing the plow to cut from 4 to 6 inches deep, 

 according to the nature of the soil and the quantity of fertilizer used. 

 If a large quantity of fertilizer is used, such as cotton-seed meal and 

 stable or barn manure, it should be thrown broadcast over the field 

 and plowed in. This should be done about six weeks before the time 

 of setting out the plants. Often a second application of fertilizer 

 will be needed in order to give a continuous, rapid growth. 



The distance between the rows should be 4 feet and between the 

 plants 12 inches. As it is always desirable to get a uniform growth, 

 great care should be exercised to have each plant live. If the ground 

 is moist and showers frequent, watering the plants is unnecessary; 

 but if the ground is dry, they should be watered immediately after 

 setting and. if possible, each day thereafter as long as the plants may 

 require it. After setting the plants the}' should not be disturbed for 

 at least six days. If the soil becomes packed and hard, a furrow 

 should be run on each side of the row, using a small straight plow 

 and letting it well down. This should be folloAved immediately by 

 two sweep furrows, which will put the plants on a smooth ridge. 

 The hoe is then used, carefully stirring the soil about the plants. 

 Thereafter cultivation should be frequent and shallow. 



As the principal value of Sumatra is its wrapping" leaves, great care 

 should be exercised to preserve the soundness of the leaf. In topping 

 the Sumatra tobacco only the bud should be taken out, and all the 

 leaves allowed to grow. If the land is exceedingly rich it is found 

 best not to top at all, but to allow the plant to go to bloom. It has 

 been found by experience that Sumatra tobacco should be harvested 

 at an early stage of ripeness, as the leaf will cure riper and be more 

 elastic — that is, it will have more life. It is usual to take 4 or 6 leaves 

 at each priming, thus going over the field four or five times before 

 the whole crop is harvested. 



