302 TOBACCO LEAF. 



manure or fertilizer more easy and effective. But this 

 practice will not do, either on rocky or cloddy land, or 

 even on land that has undecomposed, turfy matter or 

 grass on it. 



The Preparation of "New Ground" differs mainly 

 in the manner of breaking it. All trees and bushes 

 must be removed, the brush, trash and leaves piled up 

 and burned, making the surface as clean as may be. 

 Remove roots as well as possible, by plowing and har- 

 rowing, and then plow close to the stumps with a single 

 horse plow. After another harrowing, the ground is 

 checked off and the hills are made. No weeds or grasses 

 ever trouble the crop in new ground. The sprouts 

 from the stumps, however, are troublesome. The work 

 of preparing new ground for the plant involves a great 

 deal of labor, but the subsequent work in cultivating 

 the crop is much less than upon old land. 



For sixty years after the settlement of Kentucky 

 and Tennessee, four-fifths of the tobacco crop was grown 

 upon newly cleared lands, or that which had been in 

 cultivation only one year. The practice among tobacco 

 planters, up to 1860, was to clear a new field every year, 

 plant it in tobacco two, and frequently three, years in 

 succession, and then turn it over to the cultivation of 

 wheat, oats and corn. A few rich lots near the stables, 

 cow barns and hog pens were planted in tobacco in reg- 

 ular rotation with wheat, but the great reliance for the 

 tobacco crop was the fresh lands. Within the past forty 

 years this practice has been reversed, and now four-fifths 

 of all the tobacco grown in the heavy shipping districts 

 of the United States is planted upon old, manured lots. 

 The tobacco is not so well colored as when planted upon 

 new lands, but upon lands well manured it is heavier 

 and richer than when planted upon new lands. It must 

 be conceded, however, that a much larger proportion of 

 inferior lands is now planted than there was forty years 



