86 Journal of /Agriculture .Victoria. [lo Feb.. 191 i. 



are often set right into January, but the risk from frost is great, and if 

 the plant is cut before fully ripe, both quality and weight will be affected. 

 It is always wise to put on all the hands available at the right time, and 

 it will be found that the work can be more economically done with four 

 ■or five hands than with two, where a field of 10 acres has to be set. 



In a good season there will be a few misses, and these should be re- 

 placed as soon as it is ascertained that a plant has died. Plants with 

 crooked stems should be avoided, also those with a bulb just about the 

 root ; also, if the heart has been injured, do not set unless short of plants. 



The distance plants should be set depends on the soil, and the variety 

 used. On rich flats, for heavy tobaccoes, 3 feet 6 inches each way is 

 usual. For bright tobaccoes, on light soil, 3 feet each way; and for cigar, 

 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches apart for the rows, and from 18 inches to 3 feet 

 in the row. 



As soon as the plants have made sufficient growth to enable them to 

 be seen throughout the rows, the horse-hoe or scuffier should be run 

 through to stir the soil and prevent weeds from coming. This treatment 

 should be repeated three or four times, as the season demands, until the 

 plants are too large to admit of their being worked between. The later 

 workings should be shallow, to avoid injury to the roots. 



In the early stages of growth the cut worm sometimes does considerable 

 •damage by eating through the stem of the plant just above the roots. If 

 this pest is bad, it must be watched for and destroyed. A good poison 

 for the purpose is made by steeping bran in molasses and arsenic, or Paris 

 green, and spreading where the worm is bad. If the soil has been well 

 worked through the winter, this worm will not do much damage. The 

 tobacco caterpillar also does a great deal of harm in some seasons by 

 eating holes in the leaves and heart, and should be killed whenever ob- 

 served. They will often drop to the ground when being searched for, 

 and in hot weather are generally found under the leaf. 



To keep the plants growing, the soil close round the stem of the plant 

 should l3e kept open with the hoe, especially soils that cake round the 

 stem. Later on, when the plant has reached a foot in height, a little 

 soil can be drawn up to the stem all round by a hoe, to support the plant 

 in case of windstorms. The advantage of priming, that is, taking the 

 bottom leaves off to the number of five or six, is doubtful ; they are of 

 little value in themselves, but serve in some cases to protect the leaves 

 above them from becoming dirty by contact with the ground, and also in 

 exceptionally dry seasons prevent the sun from scorching the soil close to 

 the butt of the plant. If it is done in this climate at all, a light priming, 

 say, three or four leaves, will be found enough. The field must be kept 

 clear of weeds throughout. 



Topping. 



The flower bud should make its appearance about ten weeks after 

 planting in the field, and should be taken out of all plants not intended 

 for seed, directly it shows above the top of the plant. When topping, 

 judgment is required as to the number of leaves to be left on the plant. 

 On rich .soils, such as are generally cultivated in Victoria, a greater number 

 can be left on than is customary in America. Our leaf is, as a rule, too 

 rank and coarse, with too large a mid-rib, and strong flavour. For this 

 reason it is better to have more leaves of finer texture and quality, and it 

 has been found that sixteen to eighteen leaves are not too many to mature 

 properly where the soil is rich. If the plant is left to mature, it will 



