46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



up a great many of the cut-worms. It is hard to get rid 

 of them. I do not know as there is any remedy for the flea 

 beetle. They make a tobacco leaf look like a sieve in a 

 very little while. I raise tobacco and sell it for about the 

 same as other people, I suppose. 



Secretary Sessions. Is your soil like that described by 

 the Doctor? 



Mr. Newhall. I think ours is perhaps a little heavier 

 than that in Connecticut. 



Dr. Jenkins. What do you use for fertilizer? 



Mr. Newhall. Manure. I keep on the farm from fifty 

 to sixty head of cattle, and we use most of the manure and 

 till up with different kinds of fertilizers. The worst pest 

 we have is fertilizer agents, and to get rid of them we buy 

 some of their fertilizer. A gentleman came around and 

 looked at my tobacco, and I threw out one bundle, and I 

 was very sorry that I threw that bundle out, for it looked 

 so bad I wished the gentleman had not seen it. I threw out 

 another that I thought was much better. He began to talk 

 about the price, and said if it was all like the first bundle he 

 would buy it very quickly. We always have what they do 

 not want and seldom have what they do want. 



The Chairman. Mr. Whitmore of Sunderland came in 

 after we commenced, and we would like to hear from 

 him. 



Mr. F. W. Whitmore. I do not know as I can say any- 

 thing to instruct this audience. I have been growing 1 tobacco 

 for thirty years, and I am surprised every year with my 

 ignorance of the methods. Whatever sort of a crop we have, 

 it is never right. If we have dark, the agents want light. 

 The buyers are not always the pleasantest men to deal with. 

 I wish I had never embarked in the business. It is a dog's 

 life. An old neighbor of mine said it required thirteen 

 months in a year to raise tobacco, — twelve months for labor 

 and one month for anxiety. As has been said, it is a lottery. 

 This year we were very successful. I suppose I shall be 

 foolish enough to raise tobacco, hoping to have a repetition 

 of this year's success. If we had a little more information 

 as to what fertilizers to use and the proportion in which to 

 use them, it would be to our advantage ; but it is with us as 



