No. 4.] TOBACCO GROWING. 267 



and have something left over for his labor and as a profit for 

 his operations. 



The successful tobacco grower is a specialist, as no crop 

 grown calls for more scientific knowledge or the application of 

 more common sense. In the growing, harvesting and curing 

 of the crop the grower has to know something of practical 

 chemistry, physics and biology. 



But after all is said and done, the weather is the dominant 

 factor. The history of the good or poor tobacco crop tells the 

 story of the weather, — as in 1893 when the crop was largely 

 a failure on account of drought, and in 1897 again a failure on 

 account of excessive rain. Late frosts in the spring, early frost 

 in the fall, the hail and windstorms, periods of excessive mois- 

 ture or too dry weather at curing time, all show how the grower 

 must depend upon nature for his ultimate success. Indeed 

 from the time the seed bed is sown until the end of the season 

 the only time that the grower is sure of his success is when he 

 gets the money for his crop. Yet he is optimistic; he "nur- 

 tures hope," he raises his crop, doing all he knows how, and if 

 appearances count for anything he is getting along perhaps as 

 well or better than the average business man. 



There is no ironclad rule to be laid down for raising tobacco. 

 The best growers often change their methods and are constantly 

 on the lookout to learn of new ideas that will prove beneficial, 

 so that the story of tobacco growing as told in this article will 

 not attempt to tell of any best way, but will describe the 

 methods as practiced by the most progressive growers. 



The Seed Bed. 



Tobacco is raised on the same land year after year. Most 

 growers plow or harrow the land immediately after the harvest, 

 thus avoiding a useless second crop of suckers that grow from 

 the stump and remove a good deal of plant food from the soil. 

 Many believe that if the field is kept fallow during the late fall 

 and winter it will not attract the moth that lays the egg of 

 the cutworm, a pest that is the cause of much trouble. The 

 land is left fallow until the next year's crop is set out. This 

 period is a convenient one in which to apply lime. 



