194 THE CHIEF SOL^HERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



protection from this trouble. Applications of forma- 

 lin to the soil before sowing also prove effective, but 

 the expense is too great to make it a feasible rem- 

 edy. Soils are now quite widely sterilized for green- 

 house purposes by the use of live steam, and where 

 steam boilers are at hand this is probably the most 

 efficient system of soil sterilization. 



When the young plants are from four to six inches 

 high, they are ready to move to the field. The ground 

 should have been plowed, cross plowed, and thor- 

 oughly harrowed in order to put it in the most per- 

 fect condition of tilth possible. Light furrows are 

 now opened for the rows, and if commercial fertilizer 

 is used, a portion at least is scattered in the furrows. 

 The distance between the rows will depend upon the 

 type of tobacco to be grown. For cigar tobacco three 

 feet or even less is usual; but the heavier kinds re- 

 quire a greater distance. The young plants are now 

 planted by hand or with a dibble in the bottom of 

 these furrows, the cigar types being one foot or less 

 apart and double the distance for the heavier ones. 

 Mechanical planters drawn by horses are also in use 

 in some sections. Young tobacco plants, if pulled 

 from the seed beds in proper condition, are very 

 resistant, and if the soil is at all moist they will not 

 require watering when transplanted; but in very 

 dry weatlier watering is essential. Plants are likely 

 to wilt badly at first, but in two or three days, when 

 new rootlets have been formed, will stand erect and 

 soon begin to grow rapidly. As soon as this wilting 

 is past, the first cultivation should be given, in 

 order to fill in the planting furrow. From this time 



