55$ 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 



from four to six inches high, while smaller 

 ones will do well in new ground. 



The process of transplanting is simple, 

 and consists of making a hole in the hill, 

 which will receive the plant well up to the 

 leaves, and pressing the soil firmly around 

 it, taking care not to leave a hole below 

 the roots of the plant. Fresh land re- 

 quires less cultivation than old, being 

 quicker and free from weeds and grass 

 comparatively — two to three good plow- 

 ings and hilling once with the hoe are suf- 

 ficient. Old tobacco land should be 

 plowed at least four times and hoed twice. 

 The matter of cultivating the growing 

 plant, however, as it depends a great deal 

 on the kind of season, whether wet or 

 dry, will have to be left to the discretion 

 of the farmer. In no case should the 

 ground be plowed while very wet. Be- 

 fore the plant is hilled up, which is the 

 last cultivation it gets, and when it is 

 about large enough to stop, the bottom 

 leaves should be broken off (which is 

 called pruning) from the ground up from 

 four to six inches, according to its size. 



Topping, which is breaking, or rather 

 pinching out the bud of the plant, in or- 

 der to cause it to spread and mature, and 

 also to prevent it running to seed, should 

 be postponed as long as the circumstances 

 will allow, so as to top as much of the 

 crop at one time as possible. Early in 

 the season, old land tobacco should be 

 topped at ten leaves to the plant, which 

 can be done without counting, by leaving 

 the two top leaves hanging directly over 

 the two bottom ones. Within a week or 

 ten days from the time the tobacco is 

 topped, the suckers which sprout just 

 above each leaf, and also at the ground, 

 make their appearance, and should be 

 broken off when from three to six inches 

 long. If neglected, they become so hard 

 and so firmly attached to the stock as to 

 bring away the leaf with them, and if en- 

 tirely neglected would absorb all the nour- 

 ishment from the plant, and cause a total 

 failure. There are generally three crops 

 of these suckers, all of which must be at- 

 tended to at the proper time. The work 

 of keeping off suckers and horn-worms is 

 all the farmer has to do from topping 

 until cutting and housing time, and is 

 .generally all he wants. There has been 

 no way discovered to prevent the appear- 

 ance of the horn -worm, nor to keep him 



from imitating the example of his illustri- 

 ous neighbor, "Young America," in 

 chewing tobacco — in fact, he seems ex- 

 travagantly fond of the green article, and 

 claims it as his birthright, being born 

 (hatched) on the leaves from an egg de- 

 posited by the tobacco fly. They are not 

 usually abundant until about the full of 

 the moon in August, which important fact 

 furnishes a strong argument in favor of 

 early planting; for tobacco planted in 

 May is generally so nearly ripe by the 

 15th or 20th of August that young worms 

 can do it but little injury. 



The simplest and best way of disposing 

 of these pests is to pull their heads off as 

 quickly as possible. Some writer, who 

 evidently labors under the delusion that 

 they come to and go to eating again as 

 soon as the farmer's back is turned, sug- 

 gests gathering them in tin pails and 

 carrying them out of the field to destroy 

 them. They certainly never eat any 

 more after their heads are taken off, and 

 while one's hands are liable to be slightly 

 soiled, this is the best mode of treatment, 

 as both hands and eyes are needed in 

 worming and suckering, both being carried 

 on at the same time. It is much better 

 to kill the worms while quite small, as a 

 full grown one will destroy a plant of 

 tobacco in a very few days. Whole fields 

 are sometimes ruined by them, but we 

 have always doubted the statement that 

 they sometimes crawl on top of the fence, 

 and ask passers by for a " chaw." The 

 time usually necessary for tobacco to 

 mature after transplanting is about ninety 

 days, but varies some, according to soil, 

 climate and the season. 



Tobacco should never be cut until 

 thoroughly ripe, unless forced to do so by 

 prospect of frost. New ground tobacco, 

 when ripe, turns to a yellowish color, and 

 old ground becomes spotted; and both 

 are brittle, and the leaf breaks easily by 

 being pinched up between the thumb and 

 finger. 



If the crop is large enough and the 

 force sufficient, enough should be cut in 

 one day to fill a barn, so that the process 

 of curing will be uniform. Cutting is 

 done by splitting the stalk with a sharp 

 butcher knife, from the top to within two 

 leaves of the bottom, and cutting off 

 just below the bottom leaf. The plant is 

 then inverted and set over the stubble 



