56 The Bulletin. 



MODE OF APPLICATION. 



As to how to apply the fertilizer to the tobacco, every farmer will have his 

 own way. I like to apply it in such a way as to always keep it moist, and in 

 such quantities as will give the tobacco a quick and rapid growth and push 

 it on to maturity. I apply the fertilizer in the drill or row. When the land 

 is properly prepared, I lay off the rows with a shovel plow of medium width, 

 going twice in the same furrow or row, to Insure uniformity of depth and 

 width of furrow, being careful, if the land is open or leachy, not to run 

 the furrows too deep. After the fertilizer is strewn in the rows, another hand 

 follows with another shovel plow, a little wider than the one with which the 

 rows or furrows were opened, and covers it by running a furrow on just one 

 side of the row or furrow containing the fertilizer. This leaves one side of 

 the rows still connected with the middles, or land between the rows, and 

 allows the moisture or water in these middles to feed out to the fertilizer 

 and hold it in a more soluble state than is the case where it is covered by 

 running a furrow on both sides of the row ; for in this case the rows are 

 broken or cut loose from the middles, or land between them, and the water in 

 the middles cannot pass out to them so readily. And these ridges or rows 

 being exposed on both sides to the drying influence of the air and sun soon 

 dry out, and tobacco set on them does not grow otf so rapidly as when set in 

 rows prepared the other way. When the fertilizer is covered by running 

 a furrow on just one side of the row, the tobacco plants are to be set over the 

 fertilizer, or just in the edge of the furrow, and a little below the general 

 level of the land, and then have flat culture. This method of fertilization and 

 culture is preferable on well-drained and dry-matured lands and in dry sea- 

 sons. On the other hand, if we have to contend with wet lands and wet 

 seasons, it is best to plant our tobacco on ridged rows and keep it on them ; 

 for if the land contains an excess of water the tobacco roots drown and cease 

 to perform their functions, and perhaps take up much less water and plant- 

 food from the soil than they would if planted in drier land. In my judgment, 

 tobacco planted on such land will wilt, fire and suffer a great deal more for 

 lack of water and plant food than tobacco planted on our ordinary dry lands 

 and in dry seasons. So each farmer should exercise his own judgment as to 

 whetlicr he should plant his tobacco on ridges or give it flat culture. 



When tobacco is planted on land that is naturally very rich, if we want to 

 keep it from growing too rough and coarse, I think it should be fertilized very 

 liberally with a quick-acting fertilizer ; for, if it is not, it will take on a 

 slower and coarser growth than it would should its growth be pushed for- 

 ward by the liberal use of a quick-acting fertilizer. In fact, all land for 

 tobacco should be very liberally fertilized, for when poor laud is planted in 

 tobacco it is usually the case that the larger the yield the better will be the 

 quality of the tobacco. 



Js^ow a few words about the use of cheap or low-grade fertilizers. I am 

 aware of the fact that many farmers are trying to make tobacco by using 

 8-2-2 fertilizers. I cannot encourage the use of such mixtures for tobacco; for, 

 if the tobacco plant takes less of phosphoric acid out of the soil than it does 

 either of nitrogen or potash, it seems to me that, if we were to apply a suffi- 

 cient quantity of an 8-2-2 mixture to a tobacco crop to meet its demands for 

 nitrogen and potash, we should not fail to see that the quantity of phosphoric 

 acid applied would be greatly in excess or out of all proportion to the needs 

 of the crop. 



So, gentlemen, if we would get the best results from our efforts at tobacco- 

 growing, we must feed the crop balanced food, like we do our stock. Let us 

 remember that the chief function or work of phosphoric acid in plant life is 

 in the production of seed, and that we are not growing seed when we are 

 growing tobacco leaf. 



