162 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



The time required for sprouting is from two to three 

 weeks. The plants ought to be ready for transplanting in 

 from four to six weeks. Weeds and grass should of course 

 be kept out of the seed bed. 



The plants, when ready, are transplanted very much as 

 cabbages and tomatoes are transplanted. The rows should 

 be from three to four feet apart, and the plants in the rows 

 about two or three feet apart. If 

 the plants are set so that the plow 

 and cultivator can be run with the 

 rows and also across the rows, they 

 can be more economically worked. 

 Tobacco, like corn, requires shallow 

 cultivation. Of course the plants 

 should be worked often enough to 

 give clean culture and to provide a 

 soil mulch for saving moisture. 



In tobacco culture it is necessary 

 to pinch off the "buttons" or to 

 cut off the tops of the main stalk, 

 else much nourishment will be given 

 to the seeds that should go to the 

 leaves. The suckers must also be 

 cut off for the same reason. 

 The proper time for harvesting is not easily fixed ; one 

 becomes skillful in this work only through experience in 

 the field. Briefly, we may say that tobacco is ready to be 

 cut when the leaves on being held up to the sun show a 

 light or golden color, when they are sticky to the touch, 

 and are easily broken when bent. Plants that are overripe 

 are inferior to those that are cut early. 



FIG. 152. A HAND 



