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sides. For this reason, cloth for the sides is furnished in the 

 width of 144 inches, which is right for the angle formed by the 

 slant from the top of a post nine feet above the ground to a base- 

 board set six feet out from the line of posts. 



The lower edge of the wall cloth is fastened with staples to the 

 top of the baseboard, and it is usual to roll this edge of the cloth 

 around a small wire before stapling ; then put in the staples 

 every three or four inches, embracing the rolled cloth with the 

 wire within. 



Millions of yards of the tobacco shade cloth are supplied an- 

 nually to the tobacco growers of Cuba and other cigar-leaf districts, 

 and the cloth gives the utmost satisfaction because it is designed 

 and woven for this particular purpose, and comprises the experi- 

 ence of a number of years in this special fabric. The cloth is 

 woven of high grade cotton, the yarns being hard twisted for the 

 purpose of resisting mildew, and the cloth is used for one, two or 

 three seasons in succession, according to the climatic conditions ; 

 but in some damp climates, with especially rainy seasons, the 

 cloth may last but one season, or at the most, two. Cloth made 

 of jute has been tried for this purpose, but proves to be an entire 

 failure, as the jute rots rapidly when exposed to the weather, and 

 the shade growers are using exclusively the cotton cloth, as made 

 by Amory, Browne & Co. 



To order cloth for a field, get for the top of the tent as many 

 square yards as there is in the surface of the field ; and for the 

 sides of the tent, made slanting, get as many running yards of 

 cloth 144 inches wide, as there are yards around the edge of the 

 field. About five per cent additional cloth should be ordered, to 

 allow for waste in putting on, for covering the doors and other 

 purposes. Large tents are the most economical as to cloth, be- 

 cause there is much less side or wall cloth in proportion to the 

 area of the field. 



The tobacco plants are set out in the usual manner, except that 

 they are usually set a little closer together in the row than the 

 outdoor tobacco. In the United States about I3,J00 plants are set 

 to the acre, and in some parts of Cuba as many as 22,000 plants 

 to the acre. The cultivation proceeds in the usual manner. It 

 will be found that the plants grow to a much greater height under 

 the cloth than outside, on the same land and under the same 

 weather conditions, and that many more leaves are obtained on 

 each plant. The tent is put up in advance and the cloth is put on 

 just previous to the setting out of this plants. 



