EXPERIENCE OF PBACTICAL GEO WEES. 



39 



of about a foot ; then raiie or otnerwise pulverize the 

 ground to as fine a condition as it is capable of. When 

 the bed has been thus prepared, the seed should be 

 sown in about the quantity of a teaspoonful to every 

 one hundred square feet, and in order to get it distri- 

 buted more evenly, it may be mixed in dry wood-ashes 

 or sand. Sprouting the seed previously to sowing is 

 not a good practice, as the germ is so delicate that it 

 is apt to be injured by handling or drying up in the 

 sun, besides being entangled in bunches, and thus com- 

 ing up very irregularly. After the seed has been dis- 

 tributed over the bed, it should be rolled or beaten 

 down pretty firmly with the back of a spade ; this 

 presses the earth around and against the seed, which 

 enables it to germinate quickly, as, owing to its mmute 

 size, it is not enabled to do when lying loose and ex- 

 posed to the air. In this latitude, 40'-' north, the time for 

 sowing the seed varies from the fifteenth to the thirty- 

 first of March, according to the season ; this renders the 

 plants fit to set out about the latter end of May or be- 

 ginning of June. They may be had two or three weeks 

 earlier by forcing under glass ; and in high latitudes 

 this will be necessary to insure a ripening ofi the crop 

 before frost. Whenever the surface of the bed be- 

 comes dry, it must be watered with tepid water ; this 

 should be done in the morning or evening. It is 

 scarcely necessary to add that the bed must be kept 

 perfectly free from weeds ; tobacco diflers from most 

 weeds when making its first appearance above the 

 surface of the ground, by its bright green color and by 

 lying very flat upon the soil. After the leaves of the 

 plant have attained the size of a quarter-dollar they 

 may be set out in the field, but they will be all the bet- 

 ter if double that size, as they are then not so easily 

 destroyed by the cut-worm. The main point, and that 

 upon which success greatly depends in raising a good 

 crop of tobacco, is to have good plants enough to 

 fill the patch at one planting, so that the tobacco may 

 be of a uniform size and ripeness when cut off. 



Varieties. — The best variety for cultivation in a 

 high northern latitude is the Connecticut seed-leaf, as 

 it ripens two weeks eai-lier than most any other varie- 

 ty, cures and colors better, and commands the highest 

 price in the market. The Pennsylvania seed-leaf out- 

 Strips the Connecticut in size and weight, but owing to 

 its requiring a longer time to mature in, is not so well 

 adapted to climates north of 41 ° or 42 ® . 



Preparation of the Soil. — The manure should be 

 spread and plowed down several weeks before it is in- 

 tended to plant ; there is scarcely any limit as to the 

 quantity of manure that may be put to the acre, it 

 seeming that the richer the ground is, the larger will 

 be the tobacco. As an instance verifying this fact, a gen- 

 tleman in this place raised the past season, on a half-acre 

 of land, fourteen hundred lbs. of tobacco, of the aggre- 

 gate value of $230. There was $25 worth of barn-yard 

 manure put upon it at about the rate of fifty cents per 

 oue-horse load ; the average crop in the vicinity was only 



about twelve hundred lbs. to the acre. After the land 

 is plowed and a few days before it is intended to plant, 

 the soil should be well worked with a harrow or large 

 cultivator until it is free from lumps or clods, when it 

 is ready for ridging ; this is performed with a common 

 plow ; beginning on one side of the field, take a light 

 furrow, so as to throw up a ridge about five or six 

 inches higher than the surrounding surface of the 

 field ; when arrived at the end, return another furrow 

 alongside, so that the earth thrown up by the plow 

 unites with that of the former furrow, leaving a ridge 

 apparently about ten inches in hight, but really only 

 five or six, above the general level ; so proceed, making 

 the apex of the ridges three and a half feet apart, until 

 the whole is finished. Measure off the distance of thirty- 

 six inches for the plant on the top of the ridge, with 

 an instrument constructed as follows : take two strips 

 of board, two and a half feet long and an inch square, 

 make one end of each pointed ; then spread them in 

 the form of a pair of compasses until the points are 

 the desired distance ajDart, making the other ends lap 

 each other ; fasten them and put a brace across about 

 the middle to keep them stiff; with this instrument 

 one person can go before, and, planting one point at a 

 time on the apex of the ridge, measure off rapidly and 

 correctly the place for each plant. Now take a hoe, 

 and at each indentation made by the compasses, cut off 

 about two or three inches in depth of the top of the 

 ridge, and tap it lightly with the back of the hoe. 

 This forms a platform or "bench" for the reception 

 of the plant. 



Transplanting. — When the ridge has been thus pre- 

 pared, one person goes ahead with a basket of plants 

 and drops one on each " bench," another person fol- 

 lowing and planting as rapidly as possible, as it is 

 injurious to the plant to leave its roots long exposed 

 to the air. In inserting the plant, a hole may be made 

 with a pointed stick, but the most expeditious as well 

 as the best way is with the hands. The roots of the 

 plant are carefully inserted and the earth pressed mod- 

 erately tight upon them ; care must be taken not to 

 press the delicate heart-leaves, for upon their preserv- 

 ation depends the future vigor of the plant. The best 

 time for planting is during a warm, drizzling rain ; but 

 if no such occasion presents itself when every thing 

 is ready, then immediately before or after a shower 

 will do nearly as well. If it is necessary to plant with- 

 out any rain, it should be done in the evening, and 

 each plant watered slightly. Unless absolutely neces- 

 sary, never plant when the ground is in the consistence 

 of mud, as the roots are doubled up and stuck to- 

 gether, and there is considerable time lost in starting the 

 plant, if, indeed, it ever becomes vigorous. In taking 

 the plants from the bed, if the earth is not previously 

 well moistened by rain, water the ground sufficiently, 

 so that the plants will come up v.ith some earth at- 

 tached to the roots ; they may be pulled by taking 

 hold and gently doubling up the several large leavee 



