TOBACCO. 437 



adapted to it; alluvial lands that are well drained and fertile are also good. It will not thrive on 

 soils containing a surplus of water, however rich or whatever their character, and such lands 

 should never be devoted to this crop until they have been thoroughly under-drained. Soils 

 containing a large amount of potash and lime, either naturally or by application, are the best 

 suited to it. It will not thrive upon such lands as are denominated by farmers generally as 

 &quot;sour,&quot; unless the quality be first remedied by the application of salt or lime, and previous 

 cultivation. On such lands it will generally attain about one-fourth of its growth, and then 

 seem to remain stationary for a time, the leaves assuming meanwhile a yellowish tinge. The 

 crop in such cases will prove almost worthless what there is of it the stalks being hard and 

 the quality of the leaf very poor. 



On certain clays that are heavy and strong, it will be difficult at first to get the plants to 

 live when transplanted from the seed-bed; but after getting well started, or in common 

 farmer-phrase getting a &quot;stand,&quot; such soils will often produce the very best crops, the growth 

 being strong, heavy, and of fine quality. A Virginia farmer of many years experience says: 



&quot; On very stiff, strong, red -clay land, the trouble is to get the plants to live. After being 

 well set and started, however, such soils will make the strongest and heaviest sort, rich and 

 weighty ; but I have planted and re-planted such soils seven or eight times, and then only 

 obtained a poor stand of irregular growth, and a large proportion of green tobacco was the 

 result. Let your soil be of a loamy nature, with clay foundation, rich, and in good heart, if 

 old land. A good natural body is absolutely necessary for heavy, dark tobacco. Neither 

 chemical manures, or even any other kind, will make the genuine, first-class article, unless the 

 land already possesses body. Guano alone will give it size and push its growth; but when 

 that is said, all is said. 



If the land is fresh, just cleared, or is being cleared for tobacco, white oak, hickory, 

 beech, and walnut growth are sure indications of soil well suited to the growth of tobacco, 

 in regions adapted to its cultivation.&quot; 



It is not well to cultivate tobacco on sod land, but it should rather follow a crop that has 

 been heavily manured, and kept free from weeds. The Connecticut River valley product, so 

 noted for its fine quality, especially of cigar tobaccos, is grown on a rich, deep, clayey loam, 

 with a sufficient amount of sand to make it permanently arable. This is overlying, for the 

 most part, the new red sandstone. And we might add, that there is scarcely any section of 

 the Middle States which yields regularly, year after year, such abundant crops of various 

 kinds of farm products as this locality. 



Preparation of Plant-Beds. An abundance of strong, healthy plants is one of the 

 essentials for a good crop of tobacco, and in order that such plants may be obtained, it is 

 necessary that the seed-bed be properly prepared, and suitable attention given it until the 

 young plants have attained a sufficient growth for transplanting. In the cultivation of 

 tobacco, he who fails to secure an early and abundant supply of strong, healthy plants will 

 find it very difficult to repair the loss at a later period, if it be not utterly impossible. On 

 the contrary, the farmer who, at the proper time for setting out the plants, finds himself sup 

 plied with an abundance of them, of suitable size and vigor, may consider one important step 

 taken towards a successful crop. Many are accustomed to take their risk, and depend upon 

 their neighbors in this respect, but this is very poor policy, unless the order for the supply 

 be previously arranged, since no one would be willing to limit the amount required for his 

 own crop, and would take for such use the largest and strongest plants, leaving the smaller 

 and weaker ones of the bed, while the best opportunities for setting are also often lost by 

 the delay in obtaining them. The soil of the bed for sowing must be very rich, and pul- 

 verized extremely fine; the finer, the better. 



It is a good practice, and one followed by some of the most successful cultivators of 

 tobacco, to burn a pile of brush and leaves on the bed before sowing. This will have a 



