THE PRINCIPAL SOILS AND CROPS OF VIRGINIA xv 



cluster may be protected by placing a paper bag over it. 

 One good seed plant will easily produce enough seed for 

 two thousand plants. 



Insect pests. The most destructive pests are cutworms, 

 bud worms, and horn worms. Cutworms and bud 

 worms can be destroyed to some extent by mix- 

 ing Paris green with corn meal or wheat mid- 

 dlings, and sifting a small quantity of this mixture on 

 each hill, or in the bud of the plant. Horn worms must 

 be picked off by hand and killed. Another good method 

 of destroying horn-worms is by poisoning the moths with 

 a few drops of sweetened cobalt solution, placed in the 

 flowers of " Jimson " weeds or artificial flowers made for 

 the purpose and set up on sticks about the field. 



Harvesting. From ninety to one hundred days after 

 transplanting and about thirty-five days after topping, the 

 tobacco will usually be ready for harvest. Certain signs 

 of ripeness accompany this maturity of the plant ; their 

 recognition is largely a matter of experience and judg- 

 ment (Fig. 225). 



Curing. The yellowing stage is the first step in the cur- 

 ing process. The riper the tobacco, the more quickly will 

 this change take place. This change in the leaf is favored 

 and hastened by gentle warmth, moderate moisture, and 

 by darkness. The first fires built under the tobacco should 

 be very small, to avoid danger of premature drying of the 

 tips of any leaves not fully yellowed. The temperature 

 should not be raised above 95 or 100 degrees Fahrenheit 

 at this first firing, and this temperature should be main- 

 tained only long enough to dry out the surplus moisture 



