438 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



tendency to kill the seed of weeds in the soil, while the ashes will prove beneficial as a fertil 

 izer, potash being one of the best known for this crop. In such cases, however, the soil 

 should not become charred by the burning. 



The locality of the bed should be in some warm, sheltered spot, protected from cold 

 winds, with a southeasterly exposure, in order to secure the warmth of the sun. The land 

 should be neither too wet nor too dry. It is well to partially prepare the bed in the fall, 

 reducing the surface to a fine tilth, and applying lime, ashes, and well-fermented barn-yard 

 manure very finely pulverized. In the spring, the bed should be forked over or hoed, and 

 raked off, in order to remove any of the coarser lumps. Where a hot-bed is used, the soil 

 will, of course, be warmer, causing the seed to germinate quicker. In some sections of the 

 South, the ground selected for the seed-bed is in the woods, where the soil is rich with 

 decomposed leaves and other vegetable matter. A planter in Virginia says: 



&quot; The ground selected should be in the woods (original growth), and in the thickest part 

 of them, with a gentle slope (sufficient to drain well) to the south or east; soil of a dark allu 

 vial nature, such, as would be used in filling flower-pots; not wet or sour, but with sufficient 

 moisture to endure the midday sun. Cut away all growth of every kind that will draw or 

 shade the land, and nearly all that is near enough to shade the plants; a little shade is bene 

 ficial. It is best to have gathered the wood to be used in burning some time before, in 

 order to have it seasoned ; it burns much better when it has been stacked up and dried a 

 little, and you can get along much faster, and will not have any trouble in keeping up the 

 fire when it is moved. From a half hour, to one hour, is sufficient for the fire to remain in 

 one place, when it should be moved, which is done by the use of a common wood-hook or 

 sapling which has a prong, and the prong cut off eight or ten inches from the trunk. The 

 long row of wood should be laid on skids before the fire is started. Under no circum 

 stances must the earth be parched, or charred. 



The object in burning is simply to kill the vitality of small seeds of grass, weeds, etc., 

 and to secure a nice preparation, with the benefit, too, of the ashes as a manure. When the 

 fire is moved, the coals should be pushed along with the fire; leave nothing on the bed but 

 ashes; then hoe the ground over six or eight inches deep, but be very careful not to turn up 

 the soil. Continue to chop the ground over until the soil is pulverized as fine as you would 

 prepare a hot-bed for cabbages, or tomatoes. Rake it over nicely and sow, as a fertilizer, 

 Peruvian guano, and rake it in with a fine hand-rake. I like it much better than any of the 

 home-made manures, which are filled with all kinds of seeds that come up earlier than the 

 tobacco, and guano is not so forcing as stable manure, which is so generally used, and causes 

 the seed to sprout, and be killed by the cold frosts of February or March. One is certainly 

 saved a good deal of hand-weeding by the use of guano. Half a bushel is sufficient for four 

 hundred yards.&quot; 



The seed-bed should be well drained. This may be accomplished by having the bed 

 raised above the surrounding level, or by making ditches along each side, for, while moisture 

 is necessary, an excess is as injurious as a lack of water. 



Poultry manure, and that from the pig-sty and barn-yard are good for this purpose, 

 either used alone, or in connection with commercial fertilizers, but their use involves more or 

 less trouble with weeds, especially the latter two. We have found but little trouble with 

 weeds when commercial fertilizers were used exclusively for fertilizing, and the beds had 

 been previously prepared by burning brush and leaves over them, as above recommended. 



Sowing and Weeding. The time of sowing tobacco differs in different localities. 

 As the seed does not germinate quickly, and the plants at first are also of slow growth, 

 tobacco should be sown as early as the soil will admit of being thoroughly worked, and 

 warm enough for the seed to germinate. It is customary with many farmers, especially at 

 the North, to sprout the seed before sowing in the bed, as the plants will thus be started 



