TOBACCO. 



303 



removed, but that is of no consequence ; it 

 should then be broken up about two inches 

 deep with grubbinj:;-hoes, in wliich operation 

 and in repeated choppings afterward with 

 hilling-hoes, all roots will be cut and finally 

 got out with a fine iron-tooth rake which will 

 leave the ground in proper order to receive 

 the seed. 



Tlie most approved, time fur sowing is 

 about the first of Febiuary, the beds jirevi- 

 ously prepared being suffered to lie and mel- 

 low by the frost and snows to that time. But 

 it will do very well to burn and sow after 

 that time, as late as the first of March, taking 

 care not to have the heat so great. The quan- 

 tity of seed is as much as can be taken up in 

 a common table-spoon* for 100 square yards, 

 aud that in proportion. This quantity of seed 

 should be mixed with about one gallon of 

 cleau ashes, and half that quantity of plaster 

 of Paris, and the whole well incorporated, 

 and then strewed unitbrmly over the bed at 

 two operations, crossing at right angles to in- 

 sure regularity. Cabbage-seed for early plant- 

 ing, tomato, celery and lettuce-seed may be 

 Bowed in small quantities with the tobacco- 

 eeed, without material injiny to the gi'owth 

 of the plants. After sowing the seed the 

 gi'ound is immediately trodden over closely 

 with the feet, and covered thick with naked 

 brush. If the fi'ost is severe from this time it 

 is common to take off the brush some time in 



the month of March, before the plants appear, 

 and tread the bed again, and at the same time 

 give the ground a slight dressing of manure. 

 The dung of fowls of all sorts is sought after 

 lor this purpose, which being beaten, is sifted 

 over the bed through a coarse basket or rid- 

 dle. The brush is then restored, and not 

 finally removed until the leaves of the plants 

 are half an inch in diameter ; when the dress- 

 ing of manure is again ajiplied, taking care 

 to wait the approach of rain for that pur- 

 pose. Any grass or weeds that may have 

 sprung up ill the mean time are carefully 

 picked out In dry seasons, if the situatioa 

 admits of it, the bed must be irrigated by 

 training a small stream of water around the 

 edge of it. If not, it should be watered 

 every evening with a common watering-pot 

 or pine bushes dipped in water aud shaken 

 over the bed until suflicient moisture is ob- 

 tained. 



Under a careful observance of this manage- 

 ment, the plants, according as the seasons 

 have been favorable or not, '\vill be fit to 

 transplant from the 15lh of May to the 10th 

 of .June. A planter thinks himself lucky if 

 he can get his crop pitched by the 10th of 

 .Tune. After that the seasons are uncertain 

 from the heat oi the weather, and the chances 

 of success for a crop precaiious — though it 

 has been known to succeed when planted 

 the middle of July. 



It may be imnecessary to warn the reader to bear in mind the latitude in 

 which the above was written, and the difference that makes in the time of sow- 

 ing. Turning back two years for information, the best we could get on the 

 same subject in Maryland, the time for sowing is stated to be about the first of 

 March, but much, doubtless, depends on the nature of the weather and the state 

 of the ground. 



We should stop here for the present, were it not that the preparations of the 

 planter for an early and full supply of plants is the turning-point in his opera- 

 tions for the year ; for although in cases of failure with early sown beds, others 

 might come on in time, the great danger is that then he might not have seasons. 

 It is in nice, judicious and timely altention to this matter that such men as Mr. 

 Talbert, and Zadock Sasscer, and Tilghman Crawford get their crops " pitched," 

 while many of their easy-going neighbors are not half done. For a planter to 

 be caught, when the season arrives, without plants, is as if the gallant, and yet 

 more, the humane Gen. Scott had been unprovided with ammunition at the gates of 

 Mexico. By way of relief, then, to the reader, tired, it may be, of the subject for 

 the nonce, we will break off here, and give him, hereafter, a small chapter on the 

 Germination of Seeds in general, which may be useful to all cultivators, whether 

 gardeners or farmers. In a subsequent number we will tell all about planting, 

 curing, seasoning, prizing, &c., and give analyses of the plant, as far as they have 

 been made by Vauquelin, the celebrated French chemist, and others. It will be 

 seen that the plant contains a large portion of lime. 



* This quantity of iilnnt-liod is prncrnlly confidercd under good circumptances ns eiiffipionf to set ten 

 thous.itifi lulls ill j;(iod tiitK! — but llin iiiudent jjlnnter Inking into con-id(;ration the cnsuaJiies of fiy, drouth, 

 &c., will do well to niiiki- a larger allowance. Wc know of no certain remedy or antidote against the fly 

 which destroys the euily plunta. 



(623) 



