32 



HOW TO KAISE TOBACCO. 



upon the temperature at whicb it is kept. The seed 

 is sprotited sufBciently, whenever, upon disturbing tlie 

 dirt, it looks silvery inside. 



The»beds should be well worked over with the fork 

 or spade and rake. If the soil is inclined to be moist, 

 raise the beds well ; if dry, raise them less. They 

 shAld be only about three feet wide, to facilitate 

 weeding. After making the top of the beds perfectly 

 smooth and fine, sow the seed, first mixing enough 

 ground plaster to thoroughly dry the seed and prevent 

 them from falling in bunches. The quantity of seed 

 sown should be about one half a table-spoonful to 

 thirty-six or forty square feet of ground. Bo not rake 

 in the seed, but procure a smooth board, lay it on the 

 bed, and with the feet stamp the beds quite hard. 

 The ground should never be allowed to freeze after 

 sowing the seed ; to prevent this, and also for another 

 purpose, which will soon be apparent, construct a 

 straw mat, like that represented in the engraving. 



These I decidedly prefer to those described in 

 the February Agriculturist, being much lighter to 

 handle, more easily made, and sufficiently strong 

 to last one season, which is all that could be ex- 

 pected of the other. They are made by laying a 

 scantling (six feet long, one and a half inches wide, 

 three fourths of an inch thick) upon the barn 

 floor ; place a layer of good straight rye-straw upon 

 it, so that the scantling will come about in the middle 

 of the straw, then another layer with the tips the other 

 way, that it may be of uniform thickness in all its 

 parts, (about one and a half inches thick.) Place a 

 similar scantling exactly over it, and with sixpenny nails, 

 nail them tight ; with an ax trim both edges straight, 

 and to a width of three feet, and the mat is made. 

 With these the beds should be covered every night, 

 cold or warm ; in the day-time they should be set up 

 at the north side of the bed, at an angle of about sixty- 

 five degrees, by driving crotches just inside of the 

 bed, for the end of the scantling to rest in, the lower 

 edge of the mat resting on the ground, outside the bed. 

 The plants, as soon as they are out of the ground, 

 which will be in a few days, require strict attention. 

 The beds should be made high enough, so that in fair 

 weather a little water can be applied every night. Af- 

 ter the fourth loaf appears, manure-water should be 

 used. Place an old barrel near the beds, and throw 

 into it one half-bushel of hen-manure, and fill with 

 water ; after it is well soaked, use one half-pailful of 

 it, and fill up with clear water with the chill taken oS". 



As the plants get larger, the strength of the decoction 

 can be increased, being careful that it is not so strong 

 as to turn the plants yellow. As soon as the plants 

 are large enough to be readily taken hold of by the 

 thumb and point of a knife, they should be thinned to 

 about one hundred and forty-four per square foot, and 

 kept free from weeds. This plan is decidedly prefer- 

 able to raising under glass. It is less expensive, the 

 plants are more hardy to plant out in the field, are got 

 full as early, and a little carelessness in a hot day will 

 not ruin the whole. It has been my method for the 

 past eight years, and during that time I have never 

 failed to have good, strong plants ready for the field 

 from the fifth to the tenth of June. 



Preparation op the Soil. — Tobacco requires a 

 light, rich soil, in a locality not exposed to early frosts. 

 If the soil is not naturally rich enough, it must be 

 made so by a generous application of manure ; and he 

 who is unwilling to " feed his barn-yard," and spend 

 both money and time to increase the manure-heap, 

 had better not attempt the cultivation of tobacco — at 

 least not largely. It has been, and still is the practice 

 of many farmers in the Connecticut valley, and to some 

 extent here in the Housatonic valley, to plant one and 

 the same piece of land with tobacco year after year for 

 an indefinite period, because, as they say : "Tobacco 

 impoverishes the soil, and they confine it to a single 

 piece, rather than have its injurious efiects upon all 

 parts of the farm." It seems as if almost any practi- 

 cal farmer would discover the fallacy of such reason- 

 ing, for these same farmers carry all, or nearly all their 

 manure, upon this one piece, year after year, leaving 

 the remaining part of the farm to take care of itself 

 as best it may, which in my opinion is the surest way 

 to impoverish a farm which a farmer could take. Be- 

 sides, it will take almost as much again manure per 

 acre to raise a crop in this way, as it will where tobac- 

 co is grown as one in a rotation of crops, and a new 

 piece of land taken for it every year. This was the 

 idea that I started with when I commenced growing 

 tobacco, ten years ago. I have cultivated from four 

 to six acres yearly ever since, without ever more than 

 once or twice planting the same piece of land two 

 years in succession. This distributes the manure over 

 a great portion of the farm, thus keeping the whole in 

 a good state of cultivation. 



The turf should be turned over in September or 

 first of October, only three or four inches deep, plow- 

 ing the manure in with it, which should be well rotted 

 by being kept over the summer, under the sheds and 

 barns, or, which is better yet, in a heap in the field, 

 composted with swamp-muck. In the month of May, 

 the field should be worked over with the plow and 

 harrow, until thoroughly pulverized. If there have 

 been from twenty to forty loads of manure applied to 

 the acre, according to the natural condition of the 

 soil, no further manuring will be necessary ; the hills 

 can be made with a hoe, and the field be ready to re- 

 ceive the plants. If some special fertilizer is to be 



