342 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



the top of the frame ho will stretch a cloth several inches from the 

 surface of the seed bed. This is called tobacco muslin, it is a 

 little heavier than cheese cloth, but not as heavy as regular muslin 

 By this time of the year they are ready to begin to plant. I happen 

 to have sev^eral plants here about the size for transplanting. The 

 plants are drawn from the seed bed, the bed being liisr well waleu'd 

 to let as much of the roots and ground on as you can to set in the 

 field. In plowing we endeavor to plow as deep as you w^ell can 

 because the tobacco is a comparatively deep rooted crop and so 

 one thing essential is deep plowing. The next thing to get is a fine 

 preparation of the soil so that when you set out a plant there will 

 be fine soil particles to put around it and not let the sun dry up the 

 roots, and good preparation of the field is essential. There is some 

 commercial fertilizer used in this county, but not as much as in 

 other sections because w'e make so much manure it is not necessary 

 to spend money for commercial fertilizers. It may be that like 

 clover and potatoes it w\ants potash. It needs potash to give it that 

 green color and good quality, but in using i)otash we must not use 

 muriate or chloride of potash. In Pennsylvania tobacco it is essen- 

 tial that our tobacco burns, because, no matter what the flavor, if it 

 would not burn it would not be any good for cigar purposes. It is 

 essential that it burn and in buying fertilizer for tobacco we want 

 the sulphate of potash. We find cottonseed meal for nitrogen is 

 very well adapted for growing tobacco, because in cotton seed meal 

 the nitrogen is available gradually. This must rot in the soil and 

 decaying gradually give off the nitrogen. If the nitrogen is given ofif 

 too rapidly in the soil it will grow^ too rapidly and too much of the 

 strength of the plant goes to the frame work of the leaf and you 

 get a heavier weight feaf but not as valuable as a plant that grows 

 more steadily. So cotton give a good source of nitrogen because 

 it is gradually available. 



Just about this time I saw from the trolley window this morning 

 several places where they set a few plants and our planting season 

 is about beginning. They set these plants out with a machine called 

 the transplanting machine, built especially for it and brought here 

 from Wisconsin. The machine requires three men to operate it, 

 two men to set the plants and one man to drive. On this machine 

 is a barrel of water which waters the plant as it is set. There are 

 cogs on the wheel from 18 to 20, 24, or 30 inches apart, depending 

 what distance you plant, and there is a spike which these engage 

 and runs out about half a pint of water, and every time the water is 

 left out you set your plant and that is the way the distance is reg- 

 ulated. Then there is a "Y" shaped plow drawn through the ground 

 and makes a little furrow, then after this plow there are blades or 

 paddles which draw the ground together. Between the blades and 

 and this "V" shaped plow there is an opening in which you set your 

 plants. The men sit on the planter with a number of plants in their 

 laps and they set the plants with one hand, the men on the left sets 

 with the right hand and the man on the right wath the left hand 

 and each man setting the alternate plants. He takes the plant like 

 this and sets it in the hole where the water has been dropped and the 

 paddles of the machine pack the ground around it and the plant sets 

 up like that. The same machine would set cabbage plants provided 

 your machine is built so as you could get your rows close enough. 



