The Bulletin. 11 



to Tobacco," are largely preventive and depend to a great extent 

 upon proper cultural methods ; and in as far as these cultural methods 

 have to do with the control of insects, they have been indicated below. 

 The author does not claim that these methods are suited to all local- 

 ities and to all soils. He merely claims that such practices are a 

 decided checking force upon insects of this class. Trial may prove 

 that such methods are unsuited to your soil and conditions, but with 

 present knowledge of the control of certain insects, we have nothing 

 better to offer. The control of pests of this kind is largely a matter 

 for the individual farmer to work out for himself under his known 

 conditions of cultivation, soil, etc. The suggestions indicated below 

 are merely to aid him in determining upon satisfactory methods for 

 controlling insects of this class. 



Preparation of the Seedbed. 



Usually virgin soil is selected for the seedbed, and such selection 



has but very little influence upon the crop of insects found in the 



seedbed. The usual situation is in the woods, and a southeasterly 



exposure should be selected, if possible. The plants will grow much 



faster if protected in this way from the cold northern winds, and in 



this way the plants will, to a certain extent, outgrow the attack of 



insects in the beds. To this end every care should be taken to see that 



the bed is well drained, that the soil is full of humus and fertility and 



that nothing but good, heavy seeds are sown. All these factors tend 



to produce good, strong plants, which are to a great extent resistant 



to insects. A good stand of thrifty plants is such an essential thing to 



the growing of a good tobacco crop that no amount of labor should 



be spared in the preparation and care of the seedbed. The insects 



which are destructive in the seedbed are usually easily controlled 



by spraying. A great deal of spraying may be done on the seedbeds 



at comparatively small cost, for the area is small and easily accessible, 



and as most of the insects in the beds follow the plants to the field, 



there to increase in enormous numbers, it necessarily follows that 



a reduction of the insects in the bed means a corresponding reduction 



of the same insects in the field. Then, too, while the plants are 



young, they may be sprayed in safety with a much stronger solution 



than could be used in the fields, for a slight burning of the leaves 



in the beds would in no way injure the salable tobacco. To this 



end one should spray plantbeds with arsenate of lead with the strength 



of eight or ten pounds to fifty gallons of water. 



Preparation of the Soil. 



Needless to say, the ground should be thoroughly prepared for 

 transplanting. Deep plowing and thorough pulverizing of the soil 



