G2 BOARD^OF AGRICULTURE. 



to transplant. Tlicy slioiild be left on the bed till tliej have a 

 good leaf and begin to form a tap root. The ground for re- 

 ceiving them should be made rich and well pulverized, then set 

 the rows three feet four inches apart, and at two and a lialf 

 feet in the rows. Occasionally put two plants in a hill, tliat 

 one may be taken out with the hoe at hoeing time, to fill vacan- 

 cies. Should many occur, it is necessary to go over the field 

 and reset from the plant bed. We go through the rows 

 twice with the cultivator, and three or four times with the 

 hoe, as the crop or weeds may require. The crop is left to 

 grow till as much as possible will blossom without forming 

 seed, then break every plant that will do, down to a good sized 

 leaf. By this process the crop will ripen nearly all at one 

 time. If you have late plants in the field, top them low and 

 they will ripen with the early ones. All suckers must be re- 

 moved from the time of topping till you cut it, which is usually 

 about three weeks after it is topped. Cut with a hatchet, and 

 let it lie on the ground till wilted sufficiently to handle without 

 breaking the leaves. If in hot, fair weather, avoid letting it 

 lie in the sun in the middle of the day, as sunburn injures it as 

 much as a frost. I choose to cut about two o'clock, P. M., and 

 near sundown lay it in hakes, about three or four plants in each? 

 then hang it up the next morning. I hang on poles or rails, 

 twelve feet long, with twine, from thirteen to fourteen plants on 

 each side, making thirty-six or thirty-eight plants on each pole, 

 and place the poles at least eighteen inches apart. Many hang 

 it too thick, wliich causes it to sweat. This is a great injury. 

 " In the early part of the process of curing, give it all 

 the air you can, takiug care to close the building in the 

 rain. When sufficiently cured, it is taken down in a damp 

 or rainy time, and stripped, and sorted into two sorts — fillers 

 and wrappers — and tied in hands from half to three-fourths of 

 a pound each, and packed carefully down, tip to tip, till it is 

 ready to case. It is then pressed in boxes of about four hun- 

 dred pounds each. Much of the Connecticut seed-leaf — for it 

 is known by that name — is shipped out of the country. Its 

 great excellence is for cigars, and has, for the last few years, 

 been sold from eight to sixteen cents per pound. A good aver- 

 age crop is sixteen hundred pounds per acre. I think I have 



