40 



HOW TO RAISE TOBACCO. 



of the plant at once ; they are very nicely raised M'ith 

 a common table-fork. After the whole area has been 

 planted, it should be gone over every few days, and 

 such plants as have been destroyed by the cut-worms 

 or otherwise replaced by a new one ; if, however, a 

 plant shows signs of remaining vitality, it should not 

 be destroyed, but a new one placed alongside, as it of- 

 ten happens that a plant of the first setting, even 

 though it be injured, will eventually outstrip in growth 

 one of a subsequent planting ; either can be used to 

 advantage in replacing any missing plants at the first 

 hoeing, transplanting them with a large ball of earth 

 to the roots. 



Cultivation. — When the weeds begin to appear 

 pretty abundantly, and after the plants have made visi- 

 ble growth, a cultivator must be run between the rows, 

 taking care that it does not throw up the earth on the 

 ridges and cover the plants ; a cultivator that can be 

 regulated in width is the best. Hoe down the promi- 

 nences of the ridges to a level with the plants, and 

 eradicate all weeds that have come up between the 

 leaves of the plants, also transplant from any double 

 plants to such hills as have become vacant. The 

 plants will now begin to grow vigorously and require 

 no attention beyond transplanting to fiU vacancies un- 

 til a new crop of weeds appear, when the cultivator 

 must be again run through and the plants carefully 

 hoed, fresh earth being drawn up after the weeds have 

 been scraped away. Care must be taken not to hoe too 

 deep close to the plant, as it destroys too many of the 

 fibrous roots, which have begun by this time to per- 

 meate the soil in every direction. When the weeds 

 and grass have been thoroughly killed by the sun, the 

 shovel-plow or hook may be run between the rows, 

 and following after, uncover such leaves as may have 

 been buried by the earth thrown up by the implement, 

 and hoeing the ridges into an even shape, rather flat 

 upon the top and rounding off gradually till they meet 

 in the center between the rows of tobacco, forming a 

 ditch or furrow not too deep, but answering the pur- 

 pose of a drain. This is all the cultivation it will re- 

 quire, but if the weeds come up between the rows 

 Uiereafter it will benefit the tobacco as well as the 

 gTOund, if they are scraped off with a hoe. 



Worms. — Now no attention is required until the to- 

 bacco-worms appear, which, in this latitude, 40 ° 

 north, IS about the latter end of July, when it must 

 be gone over every few days and the worms picked off 

 and destroyed. The moth that produces these worms 

 is nocturnal in its habits, and in the twilight may be 

 seen hovering over the plants and depositing its eggs 

 on the under side of the leaves ; these are of a trans- 

 parent green color, and very hard to detect on account 

 of their similarity in color to the leaf. The worm be- 

 gins to feed as soon as it emerges from the shell, and 

 grows and increases in size so rapidly that it soon be- 

 comes a formidable enemy to the farmer, and if not 

 <;aptured will soon cut the plant to shreds ; and not 



content with spoiling one plant alone, will visit and 

 demolish several more before entering the earth and 

 becoming a chrysalis. Continue to visit the field regu- 

 larly every three or four days until the time for top- 

 ping arrives. 



Topping. — There can be no stated time for this, as 

 it depends upon the stage of growth in which the plant 

 may be, and the latitude or climate. As a general 

 thing it should be topped before the seed-buds are vis- 

 ible, for when these appear the plant has expended 

 most of its vigor and is no longer able to mature the 

 upper leaves ; and it must be done at least four weeks 

 before the period of heavy frosts. The number of 

 leaves that may be left to a stalk depends upon the 

 quality of the soil ; if it be very strong it will mature 

 twenty or twenty-four leaves, but in general from six- 

 teen to twenty is amply sufficient to leave on a stalk 

 in any situation. In topping it is better to pinch out 

 enough of the crown of the plant to leave the first two 

 leaves not less than three or four inches long, as they 

 grow more vigorously and mature more rapidly than 

 the small and tender leaves found about the blossom- 

 buds. In pinching out the heart of the plant, care 

 must be taken not to break or injure the upper leaves 

 that are left. AVhen topping, the plants intended to 

 produce seed for the following year's crop must be 

 spared ; they should always be chosen with regard to 

 the heaviest, as well as the longest and broadest leafed 

 plants, as weight and size of leaf is the chief consider- 

 ation of tobacco-growers. The seed-stalks should be 

 left stand until the pods are fully formed and begin to 

 turn bro^vn, when the leaves may be stripped off and 

 saved, and the stalk be spaded up and placed beyond 

 the reach of frost until the seed is fully ripe. 



SucKERiNG. — Soon after the tobacco has been top- 

 ped the "suckers" begin to appear from the junction 

 of every leaf with the stalk ; they must be pinched off 

 as soon as they are large enough to be caught by the 

 thumb and finger, and every new one that appears 

 must be served likewise, for if left they consume much 

 of the nourishment that would otherwise go to the 

 leaves, besides much impairing the process of curing 

 AV'hen the stalk is hung up. 



Cutting and Housing. — When the top leaves have 

 attained the size of the lower ones and begin to be 

 dotted with reddish spots, the tobacco is ripe and 

 ready to be cut off and hung up to cure. There are 

 several methods of hanging up tobacco, but the follow- 

 ing two are the best and shortest : first, splitting and 

 hanging it upon lath or poles and leaving it to partially 

 cure in the field ; secondly, nailing it to rails with 

 lathing-nails, at once in the shed. The former method, 

 for high northern latitudes, is by far the best, as it 

 will cure in a much shorter time, (and thus prevent the 

 destruction of the crop by freezing in the shed,) by 

 the drying of the pith of the stalk, which is the main 

 reservoir of moisture. It is performed as follows : 

 have a chisel about a foot long and three inches 



