TOBACCO 251 



The tobacco plant requires careful transplanting and the 

 unremitting attention of the planter afterwards. It has 

 thick, fleshy roots, scantily furnished with root hairs, and 

 its foraging powers for food and water are small com- 

 pared with ordinary field crops. Hence, comparatively 

 shallow but continuous and thorough cultivation, and 

 readily available forms of plant food are needed. 



Tobacco plants are transplanted when four or five 

 leaves have appeared and this is sometimes done by a 

 machine called the " Bemis transplanter," which has been 

 well spoken of by many growers. 



It is better not to set out too large plants, since the 

 tendency will be to make the subsequent growth too 

 stocky. This is an important point, since it is frequently 

 inferred that over-cultivation or over-fertilization makes 

 too stocky a plant growth. 



Cultivation. 



Since tobacco plants grow and ripen in a few weeks 

 from the time of transplanting, it is very important that 

 they get a good start. Under ordinary cultivation plants 

 will be ready to harvest from eight to ten weeks after 

 setting out. 



Cultivation should begin soon after transplanting, as 

 otherwise the plants are certain to become stunted and 

 dwarfed, and should be kept up every week oir ten days 

 until the plants have grown large enough to be topped. 

 Thorough cultivation as well as proper fertilization will 

 nearly always bring stunted plants forward. 



Variations in cultivation are just as responsible for 

 falling off in quality, and even more so, as unintelligent 

 fertilization. 



Fertilising. 



Plants need the proper kind of fertilizing at the right 

 time, and fertilizers are especially effective if the ground 

 be cultivated after applying them, or if a rain follow 

 the application. 



The texture of the leaf and burning quality of tobacco 



