268 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Each year finds the grower paying more and more attention 

 to the seed bed, there being perhaps no one thing that gives 

 him as much satisfaction in the spring as a good bed. Opera- 

 tions begin in the fall, the grower selecting a place for his bed 

 sheltered from the cold north and west winds. Sometimes it 

 may be necessary to build a board fence for this purpose. Many 

 apply the fertilizer at this time and harrow it in. This is con- 

 sidered the better way if cottonseed meal is used, and some 

 of the best growers say that there is nothing better. In the 

 spring as soon as the ground is dry enough to work the beds 

 are "made." This operation consists of fitting the land, 

 putting up a frame and sowing the seed. Beds used to be 

 covered with brush, but this material has been superseded by 

 cloth and glass, glass being by far the better. The sash are 

 3 by 6, 3 by 9 or 3 by 11 feet, to suit the grower. These 

 glass beds have enabled the grower of to-day to transplant or 

 "set" tobacco from three to four weeks earlier than from the 

 brush-covered beds of years ago. In "making" the bed the 

 land is made as fine as possible with harrows and rollers, and 

 last with a hand rake. The seed is sown by some growers 

 at the rate of one teaspoonful to the square rod; others sow 

 one tablespoonful to the square rod. After being run through 

 a cleaning machine to blow out the dirt and light seeds the 

 clean seed is usually mixed with plaster, ashes or fertilizer so 

 as to get an even stand. After sowing, the bed is either raked 

 lightly, rolled with a hand roller or simply wet down with a 

 hose; then the cloth or glass is put on. Some sow the seed 

 dry, while others sprout it first. 



There are two varieties of tobacco raised in the valley, — 

 Havana seed and Seed Leaf or Broad Leaf. The former is by 

 far the most common in the Massachusetts part of the valley, 

 only a comparatively few raising the Broad Leaf. 



After the plants are up every known method is used to force 

 them. The bed may be sprinkled with manure water, or with 

 water which has had ammonia added at the rate of one tea- 

 spoonful to the gallon, or water with nitrate of soda dissolved 

 in it. Another method is to sow fertilizer before watering. 

 Dry ground fish is a good material for this purpose as it does 

 not injure the young plants and it is quickly available. Great 



