No. 4.] TOBACCO GROWING. 47 



it is with our clocks, none of them go just alike, so what is 

 good medicine for my soil is not for some one's else. 



My experience has led me to grow my tobacco on a soil 

 containing much more moisture than we have been hearing 

 about to-day. The labor of starting a crop on these light 

 soils is quite an item with us, while on a soil containing 

 more moisture the expense is comparatively nothing. With 

 the tobacco planter we now use it is not hard to start a crop. 

 My experience is that we get better quality in the long run 

 on a soil that contains more moisture. I was offered just 

 twice as much for tobacco grown on heavy soil as for that 

 grown on light soil. But it did not work that way every 

 year. In a series of years my experience has been that the 

 heaver soil is the best. 



Last year the tobacco turned yellow in the field, and we 

 applied nitrate of soda at the rate of 1 50 pounds to the acre 

 about the time of topping. It had the effect of turning the 

 tobacco darker in the field, and also caused it to be darker 

 when cured. On the whole, I considered the nitrate of soda 

 a damage rather than a benefit. We have practiced sowing 

 rye, with very good results. 



Dr. Lindsey. Is it practical to sow clover instead of rye ? 



Dr. Jenkins. I should say it would be a better crop on 

 many accounts, if you could get it to catch. 



Dr. Lindsey. The crimson clover has not been very suc- 

 cessful. The red has done quite well. The tobacco might 

 shade the ground so the clover would not catch. 



Dr. Jenkins. We tried clover for two years, sowing it 

 immediately after we got the crop of tobacco off; that made 

 it come about the middle of August, but we did not get a 

 good catch either year. What came up " winter-killed" in 

 the spring. It would be a good idea to sow red or crimson 

 clover, if you could 'get a good catch. You need not be 

 afraid of its taking too much moisture from the soil. Has 

 any one tried casing his own crop, — holding it until it has 

 fermented ? 



The Chairman. Some of us have. 



Mr. Williams (of Deerfield). In preparing the soil for 

 seed, would you plough the fertilizer in in the fall or in the 

 spring, or in what manner do you make up the bed? 



