TOBACCO, CULTURE OF. 





apart: if they are too thick they should be 

 raked with an iron rake after tho plai 

 :ili. mt. the M/e <if :i li\ 6 '-''tit pie '. I h 



Me for such a purpose should In- a i-oni- 

 . witli teeth about three inches Ion/, 



U curved at the- ]ioints, flat, and about 

 or three-eighths of :tn inch wide, 

 uid lialf an inch apart. 



1)0(1 should not be allowed to get dry, 



y, should be watered every day. 



Where tin- lied is made early it should he COV- 



.vith brush, and protected from frost at 



Tho quantity of seed recommended is 



larger than many tobacco-growers use, and if 



all tho seeds come np, is much larger than is 



1. A very common rule is a thimbleful 



1 for a square yard, or two tablespoon- 

 fuls for a bed a rod wide and four rods long. 



'. A rich, sandy, second bottom is the 

 be-t for raising tobacco, though new woodlands, 

 or good arable land, which will grow a large. 

 crop of corn, answers the purpose well. Clayey 

 lands are not adapted to it. Black river-bot- 

 toms will yield a large crop, but the tobacco is 

 apt to be coarse, and is not so good for cigar- 

 wrappers or fine-cut tobacco as second bottom 

 or upland. The land intended for this crop 

 should be thoroughly ploughed in the fall, and 

 ploughed, harrowed, and cross-harrowed lu the 

 spring, being liberally, though not too largely, 

 manured if the soil was in good condition when 

 selected for this crop. It is better not to raise 

 tobacco for two years in succession on the 

 same field ; a rotation of crops being preferable, 

 as tobacco is an exhausting crop. The field 

 luivingbeen ploughed deep, harrowed and rolled, 

 the plants should be set three and a half or 

 four feet apart each way, and for this purpose 

 the ground may be worked with a small one- 

 horse plough, going over it each way at a dis- 

 tance of, say, four feet apart, the hills being 

 rnad^ at the points where the farrows cross 

 each other. The hills may be made with what 



ed a jumping-shovel a single shovel- 

 plough, made light, with a shovel about eight 

 inches square, put on in the place of the com- 

 mon shovel. Hitching a steady horse to this 

 and starting him in the furrows, the shovel 

 should bo dipped in the middle of the furrow, 

 and the dirt raised deposited at tho crossing of 

 tho furrow. A hand should follow, to level 

 and pat down the hills and break the clod-. 

 This process is necessary to give the requisite 

 depth of finely-pulverized soil, for the rapidly- 

 growing roots of the tobacco. 



The following are the directions of an expe- 

 rienced tobacco-grower for netting out the 

 plants: From the first to the fifteenth of Juno 

 is the proper time, although, if it is seasonable, 

 up to the fourth of July will do, but the sooner 

 after the first of June the better. By this time, 

 with proper care and attention, tho plants are 

 large enough. The ground should be well sat- 

 urated with rain, and a cloudy day is much the 

 best. Immediately after a rain, or between 

 showers, call out all tho force, for tho work is 



the success of the crop depends on 



g.-ttitiT it out at the ritrht time ; nil hands go to 

 the plant-beds, pull the large-i plants one at 8 

 linn-; don't let. two stick together, or the boys 

 will drop them together and a plant will be 

 lo-t. At'tcr the l.a-keN are full, let one 

 continue to pull plants. 1'ut the little boys 

 and girls to CUODfnOg one plant on the side of 

 hill; let those who .stick take an extra 

 plant in the hand, drawing the leaves to:.' 

 in the left hand, and with the forefinger of the 

 right hand make a hole in the centre of the 

 hill deep enough to receive the full length of 

 the roots without the top root bending up: in- 

 sert the plant up to the collar with the left 

 hand ; stick the forefinger of the right hand 

 one or two inches from tho plant, a id pn 

 dirt well up against tho roots, taking care that 

 the dirt is pressed so as to fill np the hole. 

 Pick up the plant on the side of the hill, and 

 as you step to the next hill arrange it for stick- 

 ing: in this way you always stick the plant 

 that you pick from one hill in the next, thereby 

 greatly facilitating the work. Sometimes the 

 ground is not sufficiently wet, and the sun 

 coming on the plant is apt to injure it; at such 

 times take a small clod and lay it on the heart 

 of the plant to keep the sun off, removing the 

 clod in the evening. As soon as the plants 

 have started, the first time the ground is wet 

 enough replant where they have died out. 



Cultivation. Within a week after setting, 

 the hoe should be passed through the rows, the 

 hard crust next the plants removed, and the 

 weeds cut ; a little plaster and ashes mixed in 

 equal proportions may also be put upon each 

 hill, say a gill to each. From this time until 

 the plants get so large that a cultivator cannot 

 pass between the rows without injuring the 

 plants, the ground should be cultivated often 

 enough to keep the ground mellow and free 

 from weeds. Cultivating is a delicate opera- 

 tion, requiring a skillful ploughman and a steady 

 horse, else many of the plants will be knocked 

 over or killed by the operation. After the 

 plants have become too large to be cultivated 

 without injury, they should be well hoed, cut- 

 ting the weeds, levelling the furrows made by 

 the cultivator, and drawing a little earth to the 

 plants when required, and they will need no 

 more working. 



Insects. The cut-worms will continue to 

 trouble the cultivator till there have been a few 

 hot days, or the plants get leaves as large as 

 the hand, after which they will do but little 

 damage. Missing plants may be reset until 

 about the tenth of July ; after that time they 

 will not do much. The top, or tobacco-worms, 

 begin to appear about as soon as the cut-worms 

 leave, and it' well cleared out at first, when they 

 can bo more easily found, much time and 

 tobacco will be saved. 



/'n'miity. This consists in pulling off the 

 bottom leaves to the number of four or live. 

 As these leaves are coarse, and generally imper- 

 fect, their retention increases the quantity of 



