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FARMERS' REGISTER— MANAGEMENT OF TOBACCO. 



Prince Edward, \st Feb. 1834. 

 Your Nortliami)(oii correspondent inquires for 

 gama grass seed, and Byefield or Swiss hogs. We 

 received information on the subject of gama grass 

 in this section too late to save any seed, and tlie 

 very few preserved, would hardly be spared, I sup- 

 pose, at any price. F know of no Byefield or Swiss 

 hogs'. The Rev. John Kirkpatricli of Cumber- 

 lan^d, has hogs both of the Bedford and Chester 

 breeds ; the hitter of which, I suspect, are nearly 

 the same with the Byefield They surpass any 

 Ihingthat I ever saw, in the shape of hogs, for beau- 

 ty, rapidity of growth, and aptitude to fatten. Mr. 

 Ki'rkpatrick procured them of Mr. C. Barnitz,near 

 York, (Penn.) As an evidence of their propen- 

 sity to be white, I will state, that I saw a coal black 

 sow of the common breed, with eleven pigs, by 

 the Chester boar, without a colored hair on one of 

 them. I was told, a twelfth one had died before I 

 saw the litter, as white as the rest. He has also 

 some of Mr. Meade's Durham cattle, and a num- 

 ber of his improved breed of sheep. The latter 

 yield a very uncommon quantity of wool, of a very 

 fine texture, and being free from the crispiness of 

 the merino wool, is much more suitable for home 

 manufacture. To this gentleman we are moreover 

 greatly indebted for the introduction of a great va- 

 riety of fruit trees of the best qualities, and the 

 improved taste for horticulture which has been re- 

 cently getting up among us, much through his in- 

 strumentality. 



P"or the Farmers' Register. 

 MANAGEMENT OF TOBACCO. 



In a former number of the Farmers' Register 

 may be found an essay on the Management of To- 

 bacco, signed Frederick Oronoko: as every plan- 

 ter has a mode of managing this plant, different 

 from that of his neighbor, I propose giving mine — 

 leavino" it for time and experience to determine 

 which is right. If the following remarks siiould 

 induce other planters to publish their plans, I ihink, 

 by and by, we shall be enabled to pursue a much 

 more systematic course in relation to its manage- 

 ment, &c. than we have as yet arrived at. So 

 without farther excuse, notice or apology, I com- 

 mence first on the subject of seed. 



The best seed l.avea bright brown color — should 

 be selected from plants well matured, preferring 

 the more forward plants, with leaves well shaped. 

 My plan has been to turn out two or three times 

 as many seed plants, as would be actually neces- 

 sary to seed my beds, permitling say thirty or 

 forty pods to be matured by each plant; and from 

 these, select such as are least objectionable. As 

 soon as the pod becomes dry, the seed should be 

 gathered, well dryed in the shade, and carefully 

 secured until December or January, at which time 

 you may begin to prepare the beds or patches. For 

 early planting, select a hill side presenting a south 

 eastern exposure, somewhat sandy, rich, and 

 quick ; for late planting, a low or flat situation is 

 preferred. The situation being fixed upon, and 

 the ground in what is generally called good work- 

 ing order, burn hard, hoe or coulter deejj, guard 

 against turning up the clay or under soil, rake 

 well, sow thin, (a common pi|)e bowl full, I con- 

 sider rather thick for a bed four feet wide and 

 sixty feet long,) tread close, cover well, and ma- 

 nure heavily with well rotted dung. The best 



time for manuring is as soon as the seed are sown ; 

 then repeat when the plant comes up, and so on 

 every ten or twelve days, till the plant is of (or 

 neaily) a sufficient size to plant out. 



The crop having been well worked, soon ar- 

 rives to that stage called topping; and many 

 fine crops have iieen much injured from a loose 

 and negligent habit in this operation — for if you 

 top too high, it is unreasonable to expect a perfect 

 plant ; if, on the contrary, you top too low, many 

 of the lower leaves will be much injured by rub- 

 bing against the ground. Close observation and 

 strict attention can only direct the planter how 

 this should be judiciously done. The only gene- 

 ral rule within my observation for determining 

 when a plant is rightly topped, is when the top 

 leaves are of the same size with those of the bot- 

 tom, and this rule is only applicable to full grown 

 plants. Topping too high is more injurious than 

 topping too low : for by high topping, tobacco is 

 made thin and chaffy — whereas, by top|)ing low, 

 much of the crop will be strong and rich, which 

 will compensate the planter for the ruggetl 

 dirty leaves always found on plants topped too 

 low. The practice in this neighborhood is to 

 prime in the earlier part of the season five or six 

 inches high, and top to eight or nine leaves. Some 

 go as high as ten leaves ; but under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, eight leaves appear to be the common 

 standard. As the season advances, the priming 

 should gradually fall to three or four inches, and 

 the topping to four or six leaves. 



Cutting is the next thing to be attended to ; 

 and the only thing necessary here tostate, is the im- 

 portance of cutting on/j/ that which is perfectly ripe. 



There is a practice with many overseers to get 

 as sreat a number of sticks cut at the first and se- 

 cond cuttings as they possibly can, in order, I sup- 

 post , to afford an opportunity (even at the em- 

 ployer's expense,) of boasting a little at the next 

 court, muster, or warrant-frying day. The (.nly 

 way to guard against impositions like this, is the 

 personal attention of employers; and until this is 

 done, we look in vain for any great improvement 

 in our agricultural operations. I would here add 

 the impropriety of cutting on Wednesdays or 

 Thursdays, especially in the month of August or 

 first of September; it being oftenthe case that a 

 house of tobacco is very much injured from this 

 circumstance alone. If you cut on Wednesday, 

 your fires must commence Friday, which nmsl be 

 very moderate until Saturday 10 or 11 o'clock, 

 from which time till night is too short a ])eriod to 

 effect as perfect a cure as the tobacco requires; 

 and by Monday morning, especially in warm moist 

 weather, the sap begins to flow, from the stem 

 which is green, into the half cured leaf, producing 

 a reddish appearance, wholly destructive of its 

 former beauty and brilliancy. 



In warm weather, we hang from eight large 

 plants, to fen small ones, on each stick ; the sticks 

 should be carried immediately into the house, and 

 placed eight or nine inches apart. The sticks j 

 having been regularly arranged throughout the \ 

 house, the process of curing then comes on. 



My practice for several years, with but little 

 variation, has been to regulate the sticks, the day 

 after cutting and next morning. Commence with 

 small fires, so as to raise the thermometor to 90° ; 

 this heat should be continued from thirty six to 

 fortv eight hours, which we call the warming or 



