CULTURE OF CIGAR LEAF. 409 



icut practice on this point. Tobacco has been produced 

 011 the same piece of land in Onondaga county, N. Y., for 

 nearly forty successive years, yet the fields, of late years, 

 have averaged nearly twice as much per acre as on newer 

 lands, properly manured and cared for, while the quality 

 is all that could be expected. Pennsylvania experience 

 is much along the same line, and in Wisconsin tobacco 

 is more and more grown upon old land. 



Preparation of the soil. This begins "the year 

 before." Fall plowing is essential to the best results. 

 Tobacco needs almost as deep and thoroughly pulverized 

 soil as does the sugar beet. Many of the best growers 

 prefer to plow under a grass sod as soon as the hay crop 

 is secured, plowing as shallow as possible, and have the 

 sward well turned under. Another plowing to the full 

 depth, just before the ground freezes up, will do much 

 to prevent trouble from cutworms. Manure may be 

 plowed under in fall or spring. Thorough spring plow- 

 ing is to be insisted upon. Some growers practice run- 

 ning a subsoil plow in the furrow after the fall plowing, 

 especially on soils liable to drouth. Probably the better 

 plan, with stable manure, tobacco stalks, and similar 

 bulky material, is to spread it broadcast in the fall or 

 early winter, to be plowed under in the early spring. 

 All forms of vegetable fertilizer, such as cottonseed meal, 

 linseed meal, etc., are broadcasted and harrowed in about 

 two weeks before the time of setting plants, but long 

 before this the soil has been wheel-harrowed after the 

 spring plowing, and cross-harrowed with a fine-tooth 

 harrow. 



Varieties, and Other Points. Manuring and ferti- 

 lization have already been exhaustively treated in Chap- 

 ters VI and XVIII, which should be carefully studied. 

 The whole subject of varieties, seed and seedbeds, plants 

 and transplanting, pests, etc., are covered in the chap- 

 ters on those subjects. Formerly, Connecticut broad- 



