CULTIVATION. 53 



sprout, and when the planting is going on, the ground 

 should not be too wet. The plants should be set on the 

 side of the furrow, and on that side which is next the 

 setting sun, so that the rising sun may strike upon them, 

 and they may be somewhat protected from the rays of 

 the afternoon sun. 



" Generally the plants wither after being transplanted, 

 but on the third or fourth day after they are set they 

 begin to shoot up, and on the fifth day or the sixth, those 

 that have not taken root can be distinguished. Then, 

 and without loss of time, others should be supplied, this 

 operation being repeated at the end of another 5 or 6 

 days, so that the whole field may be well filled with 

 living plants. This is one of the most important opera- 

 tions for securing a good crop, because the fields will 

 require as much cultivation and labour bestowed on 

 them if they have vacant spots as if they were full and 

 regularly planted, and, of course, the yield will be less, 

 besides many other evils well known to practical vegueros. 



"According to the best opinions admitted among 

 vegueros, one man can take care of 12,000 tobacco plants, 

 and prudence dictates that no more land should be planted 

 than that which can be well attended to, as experience 

 shows that in exceeding this number for each man, 

 instead of proving advantageous to the planter, it is 

 frequently the cause of considerable loss. Excessive 

 planting produces, at once, an increase of labour, and if, 

 unfortunately, a hard year should occur, occasioned by 

 caterpillars or other causes, it almost always happens 

 that the man who has only planted 12,000 plants, for 

 each labourer he can command, produces four times as 



