CIGAR LEAF AT THE WEST AND SOUTH. 447 



ing interesting account of it, based on a visit made a 

 year later. 



The tobacco lands of the Fort Meade region are very 

 light, deep, sandy soils, finer in texture than those of 

 the Connecticut valley, and contain some humus. They 

 have been covered, from time immemorial, with a growth 

 of wood, the best of them with oak, hickory, live oak, 

 magnolia, etc. At the time of our visit, no rain had 

 fallen for many weeks, yet the soil was damper in ap- 

 pearance and feel than our Connecticut soils after two 

 weeks of dry weather. Nevertheless, the company has 

 put in an irrigating plant and uses it during the grow- 

 ing season. 



The seed beds made on new lands, protected from 

 light frost by the surrounding timber, und fertilized 

 only with the ashes of the wood and trash cut to clear 

 them, are sowed in January. On Jan. 15, some beds 

 were not yet sowed, in others the plants were an inch 

 high and were being weeded. The plants are set in the 

 field early in March, at the rate of about 15,000 per 

 acre. Native Cubans do all the work on the crops, 

 which are cultivated wholly by hand, with short-handled, 

 very heavy hoes. The only fertilizer used is Peruvian 

 guano, at the rate of about 450 pounds to the acre. 

 The land appears to be kept clear of weeds, and the 

 plants are hilled up, but not quite as much, perhaps, as 

 in Connecticut. The irrigating is done from standpipes 

 six or seven feet high, with a spraying fixture which 

 distributes the water (Fig. 126) over a circular area 

 about sixty feet in diameter. The plants are suckered, 

 and after topping have only eight to ten leaves on the 

 average per plant, more leaves being left on strong 

 plants than on feeble ones, and more on strong soil than 

 on poorer land. It is stated that the plant, at harvest 

 time, has the shape of an inverted cone, the top leaves 

 being the largest, as appears in Fig. 127. 



