837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



699 



until the ground is reduced sufficiently fine, re- 

 moving all the roots that can be got out, large and 

 small, takinfr care not to rupture the substratum 

 by pulling up larije roots ; mark ofl' your bed, and 

 t50w a common table spoonful of tobacco seed for 

 every imndred square yards, dividing your seed, 

 and sowing one-half lengthwise, and theoiher half 

 crosswise, by which means you vvill sow your bed 

 more regular; tread anJ cover well, and you may 

 expect plants in due season, provided 50U give an- 

 other dressing of horse manure, made fine enough 

 to sift through a basket, when your plants are gene- 

 rally square, and at the time when rain is expect- 

 ed. Seasons lor setting plants being uncertain, 

 we usually embrace seasons in I he month of JMay, 

 yet I greatly prefer planting li'om the Ist to the 

 15th of June. It will come to the kiiife sooner, 

 and make larger and better tobacco, than if plant- 

 ed in May. Tobacco requires early and deep 

 working with a coulter plough first, then with a 

 scoope to make fine earth, and instead of the old 

 mode of ridding down, it is much better to hill it. 

 At the second working, plough and hill in the same 

 way, and if well done, and at the right lime, it 

 scarcely vvill require a third working. All the neces- 

 sary working should be performed by the time your 

 plants are in the second suckers; after that period, 

 a working is olten prejudicial. Young grass in 

 that stage of its growth will not injure; indeed, it 

 defends the plants Irom dirt upon the bottom leaves, 

 and will cause it to ripen of a yellow grey color, 

 and make tobacco of a finer fibre, and more easily 

 cured. Weeds will injure, by the winds whipping 

 the leaves against them; they should be plucked 

 up by the hands when suckering. I recommend 

 lovv priming and lopping — the shorter the stalk, 

 the richer the tobacco. Take out the bud as soon 

 as practicable, without crippling the bud-leaves. 

 In my opinion, eight leaves is better to top to, than 

 any greater number, even upon rich lands ; it will 

 make richer tobacco, more certain to make itselfj 

 and come to the house before frost, than any 

 greater number of leaves. It is often seen upon 

 weak land in dry cool seasons, the two top leaves 

 of ten-leaf topping will not ripen, and they ought 

 to be the two best leaves upon the plant — when, 

 if eight-leaf tobacco had been in the same hills, it 

 would have ripened to perfection, with longer and 

 broader leaves, richer, heavier, and every way bet- 

 ter tobacco. Besides, it will come to the knife two 

 weeks sooner, making the crop much more certain, 

 and enable you to seed your tobacco land in wheat 

 that much sooner, which is a great consideration 

 with every farmer. 



A very great and common fault in tobacco ma- 

 kers, is cutting tobacco before it is ripe, by which 

 the loss is great, in quantity and quality. In an 

 address of this kind, there is much dilllculty in 

 giving you a criterion, by which to knovv certainly 

 when it is really ripe — for tobacco often assumes 

 the appearance of ripeness (especially in dry 

 weather,) when it is not ripe. I will, however, 

 say, that when most planters think their tobacco 

 is ripe, if they would delay cutting one week 

 longer, it would then probably be ripe. I will 

 draw your attention to the point of the top leaf on 

 the north side of the plants. From the stalk to the 

 declining part of the leaf, you will see yellow spots, 

 which is the oil separated from the water; from 

 thence to the pomt, if green in color, it is water 

 only, and ought not to be cut until the oil has 



reached the point of the leaf. There is as much 

 difiijrence in a chew of good ripe tobacco, com- 

 paied with a chew of half ripe, as there is in a 

 ripe and half ripe water-melon. Unless the in- 

 tense heat of the sun fcrbid it, (such heat as we 

 had in the last month,) I always scafibld tobacco. 

 As to the time when it ought to be housed, and fire 

 applied, nothing is more indefinite, depending 

 upon the degree of ripeness, the kind of land on 

 which it grew, the strength of the sun, the state 

 of the air, whether dry and cool, or warm and 

 moist, and whether it ripened of a yellow-grey, 

 or green color; the latter always containing more 

 water, and longer betbre the water and oil sepa- 

 rate. The best guide is this separation, the water 

 having escaped through the mouths of the leaf 

 vessels, where you see the yellow spots of essen- 

 tial oil, and the remaining green and watery part 

 of the leaf approaching that process. A slow fire 

 and weak heat must be applied, say eighty de- 

 grees, for if your tobacco gets too yellow, the ves- 

 sels become so open, the least degree of heat too 

 strong, will force out the oil with the water, kill 

 the staple and cure it up red, the most worthless 

 kind of tobacco that is made, there being no essen- 

 tial oil in it, in which the value of tobacco entirely 

 consists. That degree of heat ought to be contin- 

 ued, but not increased, one natural day; after 

 that toasting, (he tobacco is prepared to bear an 

 increased heat of five degrees more, the next natu- 

 ral day ; the third day 90 to 95, and the fourth day 

 105 to 110 degrees, which ought by that time to cure 

 tlie leaf perfectly; but of that fact be certain, by 

 a nice examination above the joist, where the pro- 

 cess of curing is the slowest, before you raise heat 

 to 140 or 150 degrees, which is necessary to reduce 

 the stems ; even a greater heat if your tobacco is 

 very large. There is then no danger of injuring 

 your tobacco ; the mouths of all the vessels are 

 sealed up, no oil can escape, and your tobacco will 

 be finer in fibre, closer in texture, and the large 

 stems well reduced, exhibiting a fluted appearance 

 instead of round, a sure proof that all the water is 

 evaporated. Partly cured stems have, and will de- 

 ceive even good planters, as to the right order to 

 strike down for pressing. It is the moisture retained 

 in the stems, that imparts itself through the leaf) 

 as warm weather approaches. Of tlie different 

 degrees of heat of which I have spoken, much 

 depends upon the tightness of the house, and ought 

 to be regulated by common sense observation. 



Never crowd your tobacco either upon the scaf^ 

 fold or in the house — ten good plants is as many 

 as ought to be hung upon a stick: if small, go to 

 12. When arranging in the house to fire, give a 

 space of ten inches between, and it is best to cure 

 in the body of the house, commencing upon the 

 joist; when the leaf is cured, raise it up in the 

 roof, when 4^ inches space is sufficient — if house- 

 room be scarce, fill the body again with your next 

 cutting — the firing of that, will cure the stems of 

 that above. No man can cure as good tobacco in 

 the roof as in the body of a house, a dry heat cur- 

 ing best. The tier next to the fire will be best, if 

 heat be applied right — the steam passing up 

 through so many tiers of tobacco, from which the 

 water is constantly issuing out, before it passes the 

 joist, the steam becomes vapor, and being confined 

 some time before it escapes through the roof, has 

 a deleterious effect, which, if not prevented, by a 

 constant and sufficient supply of heat, to dry off 



