24 ARIETIES OF TOBACCO SEED DISTRIBUTED IX 190.j-(3. 



in anv portion of the seed bod. the}' should be thinned out by using 

 an ordinaiy g-urden rake and pulling- it through the thickly set plants. 

 Sufficient plants will be removed in this way, and those which remain 

 will not be injured by the thinning process, but will be benetited by 

 the stirring- of the surface soil. It is also necessary to keep out all 

 weeds, carefully pulling them as soon as thej' appear among the tobacco 

 plants. Before pulling the weeds, the beds should be thoroughly 

 watered. If flea-beetles or other biting- insects attack the young- 

 plants in the seed bed, the plants should be sprayed with a Paris, green 

 mixture at the rate of 1 pound of Paris green and an ecpial quantity of 

 quicklime to 100 gallons of water. If fungous diseases begin to grow 

 in any portion of the seed bed, it should be thoroughly aired by rais- 

 ing the sash during the day, and if this method does not check the 

 growth of the fungus the beds should be sprayed with a solution of 

 formalin — 1 part of formalin to 2,000 parts of water. An application 

 of lime dusted over the beds will also assist in preventing the spread of 

 fungous diseases. 



The preparation of the lield for the plants should be begun in the 

 autumn, if possible, b}' plowing the land 2 or 3 inches deep and sowing 

 a cover crop, such as vetch or some other legume. These leguminous 

 cover crops not onh* prevent washing and loss of fertility during the 

 heavy rains of the fall and winter, but increase the fertility of the soil 

 through the addition of the nitrogen in the tubercles of these plants 

 and by reason of their extensive root development, which tends to 

 break up and put the soil in the best possible tilth for the young plants. 

 In the spring the land should be replowed, care being used to see that 

 the cover crop is thoroughly plowed under, with an application of 

 well-rotted stable manure at the rate of 12 to 15 tons to the acre. 



In addition to the use of stable manure, it has been found that the 

 following- or a similar fertilizer should be used in order to secure the 

 l>est results: One ton of cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds of carbonate of 

 potash, 500 pounds of starter, and 1 barrel of lime to the acre. This 

 commercial fertilizer should be sowed on the land after plowing and 

 worked into the soil with a disk or by some other means of thorough 

 stirring- before the young plants are transplanted into the field. "When 

 the young plants are pulled from the seed beds the bed should be 

 thoroughly wet down before pulling, in order that as little injury to 

 the plants as possible may be inflicted during the process of pulling. 

 The plants are usually set out with a tobacco setter, such as is shown 

 in Plate III, tigure 1. If possible, it is desirable to transplant after a 

 shower or during a moist spell of weather, as the hot sun on the 3'oung 

 plants in the flelds is likely to cause considerable injury. Immediately 

 after transplanting, the young plants should be dusted with a bran 

 mash and Paris green mixture made by mixing thoroughly 1 pound of 

 Paris green with 100 pounds of Vjran. This mixture can be applied to^ 



