14 



now TO RAISE TOBACCO. 



or lettuce-plants will thrive well, will usually produce 

 good tobacco-plants. Plaving selected a suitable loca- 

 tion, next consider how largo a bed you will need. That 

 depends on the surface you intend to plant out. A 

 bed two rods long, by twelve feet wide, will produce 

 a sufficient number of good plants to set an acre. On 

 such a bed you should spread a heavy coat of good, 

 fine, well-rotted manure, at least two inches thick ; 

 let it be free from straw or other litter. Then, with a 

 good strong back^ and long-handled spade, (or other as 

 you prefer,) spade up the bed, mixing in the manure 

 very fine. Have ready some fine dry brush, or the 

 like, and spread over the whole surface ; set it on fire 

 and burn to ashes. A small quantity will answer bet- 

 ter than a very large one, for if very much is burned, 

 it is apt to do injury by burning the soil. The less 

 quantity will tend to destroy any foreign seed turned 

 up, and warm the ground. Having reduced the brush 

 to ashes, take a fine iron or steel rake, and proceed to 

 pulverize very finely the whole surface spaded up. 

 After reducing it to as fine a state as possible,^ and 

 having made it flat and level, leave it till the next day. 

 Then, with your rake, carefully rake over the whole 

 bed ; it is now ready for the seed. Sow the seed on 

 broadcast ; be careful to sow it even and true. About 

 two thimblefuls, or a little less, will be sufficient for 

 such a bed. It is better to have too little than too 

 much, as in the first instance, the plants will have 

 room to form thick stalky roots and well-spread leaves, 

 while in the latter they will be crowded with spindling 

 tops as well as small roots. Having sowed your seed, 

 take a good heavy garden-roller and roll the surface 

 down hard and smooth. In the absence of a roll, a 

 vei'y good substitute can be made by taking a piece 

 of two-inch plank, say eighteen inches long by four- 

 'een inches wide ; in the center, place an upright 

 handle. With this spat the bed over, being careful to 

 do it evenly, and to leave the surface solid and level, 

 the reasons for which you will afterward discover in 

 weeding and taking out plants to set in the field. This 

 should be done in the spring, as soon as the ground 

 will permit, say first of April, if the frost is out and 

 the ground settled. The roll or spatter will cover the 

 seed sufficiently without any other covering. To be 

 able to sow the seed with the least trouble, mix it in 

 thoroughly with wood-ashes or plaster, before sowing. 

 To obtain plants earlier, you can mix your seed 

 thoroughly in about a quart of fight chip dirt from 

 under your wood-shed ; put it in some proper vessel, 

 and wet to the consistence of soft putty, with water as 

 warm as can be well borne by the hand. Set it on the 

 mantle-shelf in the kitchen, not too near the stove or ' 

 fire, but where it will keep warm. In the course of a 

 week or ten days, the seed will have cracked the shell, 

 and v,'ill show the small white germ or sprout. It 

 should now be sowed broadcast very evenly, and treat 

 aa before described. If properly wet at first, it will 

 need no more water to sprout the seed. Before sow- 



ing, pulverize the mass containing the seed, to facili- 

 tate the sowing. Having thus sown and rolled down 

 your bed very nicely, it is well to have something to 

 protect it from the encroachment of the fowls. For this 

 purpose, spread a net of twine or a few brush over the 

 surface, covering it so that they may not disturb the 

 surface by scratching and wallowing. It may now be 

 left till the weeds begin to make their appearance; 

 these you will need to extract by the roots as sooin as 

 the plants can be distinguished ; these last may bo 

 known by two very small nearly round leaves opening 

 over flat on the ground. Now procure a plank or 

 some substitute a little longer than your bed is wide, 

 also two blocks five or six inches square, as long or 

 longer than your plank is wide ; place one on one 

 side of the bed, the other on the opposite side ; on 

 these two blocks, place your plank, and you will have 

 a fine platform on which you can sit and weed any 

 part, or all, of your bed, by moving it as occasion may 

 require. To assist in pulling out the weeds, procure a 

 moderately sharp-pointed knife, and with the same 

 grasped in the hand with the thumb near the point, 

 pinch out the weeds, being careful not to disturb the 

 dirt any more than absolutely necessary. The process 

 of weeding must be repeated as often as necessary, to 

 keep the bed clean from weeds. The next step is pre- 

 paring your field. 



Soil. — Select a patch of good loamy soil — almost 

 any such as will grow a good crop of corn will 

 answer — that which has been broken up and tilled 

 at least one season, is the best. On such a piece 

 there will be needed at least twenty -five loads 

 (sixty-four feet to the load) of good stable or yard 

 manure to the acre. Cart this on, making five heaps 

 to the load, putting them equidistant all over the 

 field. Having finished carting on the manure, about 

 the first of May, or sooner, if the ground is free from 

 frost, and settled, commence to spread the manure 

 evenly all over the ground, and with a good team and 

 plow, turn it under, letting the plow run at least seven 

 inches deep. Having done this thoroughly, let it re- 

 main for the present, and in the mean time you may 

 plant your corn and do other necessary farm-work. 

 As the weeds begin to start up a little, take your team 

 and drag them down over the field, thus at once 

 checking their growth and pulverizing the ground ; 

 repeat the harrowing, if necessary, before the second 

 plowing. The last of May, or first of June, depend- 

 ing on the state of forwardness of your plants in the 

 bed, plow your ground again, and not quite as deep as 

 at first ; let it he a day or two ; then harrow it thor- 

 oughly, going two or three times over it. If your 

 land is in pretty good heart, no further manure will 

 be necessary ; but unless it is so, I would manure in 

 the drill with fine, well-rotted manure or compost. 

 Having completed the harrowing, you may commence 

 to fit the hills, (and here I would say, by hills I do 

 not mean those little mounds that will dry up and 



