156 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



done so much to give Sumatra tobacco its excellent rep- 

 utation as the care of the Dutch government that no 

 poor seed shall be planted. The Spanish government 

 did the same work here during the tobacco monopoly, 

 and the deterioration of Philippine tobacco since that 

 time has been largely due to the use of much unselected 

 seed. Sumatra tobacco came originally from Havana 

 seed; and many planters in the United States, in South 

 America, and even in Russia, now get their seed from 

 Cuba every year. The highest-priced tobaccos are now 

 raised in Cuba, Sumatra, and Turkey. 



Seed Beds. Tobacco seed is usually planted in seed 

 beds. In the Philippines the seeds are likely to be stolen 

 by ants, and where this is the case, it is best to plant it 

 in boxes which ants cannot reach. Some planters use a 

 large quantity of seed in seed beds on the ground, and 

 trust that the ants will leave some of it ; but seed so poor 

 that it can be fed to ants ought not to be planted. 



In the seed bed the soil should be very light and ex- 

 ceedingly fine. Ashes and horse manure are good fer- 

 tilizers for the seed bed. The seeds must be planted 

 shallowly, because they are very small. If they are sown 

 broadcast, a teaspoonful is enough for 20 square meters 

 of bed. The seeds will be more uniformly scattered if 

 they are thoroughly mixed with 5 teaspoonfuls of fine 

 ashes, before they are sown. 



A better method than broadcasting the seed is plant- 

 ing them with a hand drill. If they are drilled in, they 

 should be in rows 10 cm apart, and placed 4 cm apart 



