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consequence of the planting <nl poor cultivation, in many instances. 
It was of light and chafty quality in Goochland, from excess of wet 
weather, and light, also, in Hanover. An unusually favorable season for 
ripening and curing made an excellent crop in Henry. In Lunenburgh 
the weather was unfavorable in August and also in December and Jan- 
uary, and there was a lack of suitable barns and curing-houses for pro- 
tection from the weather. There is a popular opinion here that the use 
of commercial fertilizers reduces the quality. The great number of 
small patches without facilities for curing canses a. reduction of the 
average. An excellent quality was obtained in Mecklenburgh, especially 
on high lands, the lower situations being somewhat too wet in August. 
The weather was too wet in Montgomery and too dry in Nottoway. In 
Prince Edward the wet weather, at the usual period for cutting, contin- 
ued, and made it necessary to cut much of it before full maturity. The 
quality of Danville tobacco is not quite up to the standard of last year, 
but is medium and the color good. In Powhatan the leaf was light from 
the excess of summer rains. Planters generally concede that the crop 
of 1875 is from five to ten times as great as in 1874, and that but for 
excessive rains it would have been a third larger still. 
The effect of excessive moisture is seen very generally in the crop of 
North Carolina, which has more light and chaffy material in it than 
usual. This is especially noticed in Person, Alamance, Caswell, Gran- 
ville, Orange, Stokes, Forsyth, and Surrey. It is about an average in 
Guilford. Still there is some rich, waxy stock of good color; a fair pro- 
portion of a comparatively bright article, but little that is strictly fine, . 
yellow tobacco. In some cases tobacco wanting in wax has a desirable 
color. In Caswell there was considerable injury from the “spot” and 
‘“‘sore-shin,” (rotting of the stock near the surface of the ground,) and 
less than half a crop was produced. Our correspondent in Alamance 
County regards the use of flues of brick or stone, covered with sheet- 
iron and making a circuit through the shed or barn, as less dangerous 
than the method of curing by coal. Wood is supplied from the outside, 
and the heat can easily be regulated. Sun-curing is deemed best for 
chewing-tobaceo. He sends some remarks upon the cultivation and 
curing of fine yellow tobacco by Maj. Robert L. Ragland, of Halifax 
County, Virginia, an expert in the production of high-priced samples, 
from which the jollowing extracts are made: 
‘The “ Yellow Oronoco” and “Silky Pryor” are the kinds best adapted to coal-curing, 
while gray soils, (and the fresher the better,) with dry, porous subsoil, are best adapted 
to the growth and maturity of yellow tobacco. 
Plant in hills, instead of beds, as soon after the 10th of May as the plants and season 
will admit. Commence cultivation as soon as the plants begin to spread over the hills, 
whether grassy or not, and continue to stir the land with plows and hoes till the 
tobacco begins to come in top, using short singletrees, as the plants increase in size, to 
prevent breaking and bruising. When the plants are too large to admit the plow, use 
only hoes to keep down the grass and weeds. 
To prevent depredations by the fly, use ground plaster, in which rags, saturated 
with kerosene-oil, have been laid for some hours, and cover the plants, if necessary, 
with the plaster thus prepared. 
Wait till a considerable number of plants begin to button for seed before you com- 
mence to top; then these will ripen about the same time. Topping must be done 
according to the appearance and promise of each plant, strength of soil, and time the 
work is done. First topping for medium tobacco should be from ten to twelve leaves, 
rarely more; priming off lower leaves, neither too high nor too low, but just enough, 
so that when the plant ripens the lower leaves may be well off the ground. 
Continue topping as the plants are large enough, observing, as the season advances, 
to top lower and lower, so as to bring in the late plants before frost. 
The plow should not be, used later than the 1st day of August, as plowing late keeps 
the tobacco green too long, and may cause it to ripen of a green color. The hoe should 
be relied on after that time to clean the crop. 
