126 TOBACCO LEAF. 



poses, it is more economical to feed it ; but tobacco is an 

 exceptional crop, and this meal bas been found so con- 

 genial to this plant that it cannot be considered wasteful 

 to use it directly. And laying aside its feeding value, 

 and considering it solely as a fertilizer for direct appli- 

 cation, it is one of the most economical fertilizers. 



Cottonseed meal, however, is not a very rapid ferti- 

 lizer, and it should be applied as long as possible before 

 the setting of the plants, to allow it to decompose. When 

 the land has been dressed with ten cords of manure in 

 the fall, one thousand pounds of meal should be broad- 

 casted after plowing in the spring, and gently harrowed 

 in. This should be done a month or six weeks before 

 the plants are set, by which time it will be well diffused 

 throughout the soil, especially if moist weather has pre- 

 vailed. When no manure is used, one ton of meal 

 should be applied. Some growers apply it in the fall, 

 but this is not a general custom, although it is a good 

 plan to follow. At Poquonock, 1500 pounds of cotton- 

 seed meal per acre, with 1500 pounds of cottonhull ash, 

 made an average crop of 1611 pounds per acre, contain- 

 ing 956 pounds wrappers ; when the meal was increased 

 to 2500 pounds, the total crop was not much larger, but 

 it yielded 1065 pounds wrappers ; and 3000 pounds of 

 meal made an average crop of 1835 pounds of cured leaf 

 per acre, containing 1226 pounds of wrappers ; the ash 

 used was the same in all cases. 



Linseed or Flaxseed Meal is also a popular ferti- 

 lizer in seasons when, because of its abundance, it can be 

 sold at as low, or lower, a price as cottonseed meal. It 

 is not quite so rich in plant food as cottonseed meal, but 

 the difference is slight. The new process linseed meal 

 contains only about three per cent of fat or oil, while 

 old process contains twice as much. At Poquonock, 

 the tests made were with new process only, and results 

 in quantity and quality of leaf from a moderate applica- 



