192 CHAPTER XII 



down with a trowel, and then watered with a fine-rosed water- 

 ing can. From now on, until the plants are ready to be 

 hardened oft" for transplanting, the soil should be kept moist. 



Time of Sowing. — From the date of sowing the seedlings 

 take sixty days to reach the transplanting stage for early plant- 

 ing, and less for late planting. Seed sown by the 1st August 

 is quite early enough for planting in October. In the Western 

 Province, Turkish seed-beds are sown in June, when open beds 

 are used, and in July when closed beds are employed. Seed 

 beds should be sown at intervals, so that the operations of 

 transplanting, cultivation, and curing, can be carried out in 

 succession, and labour can be used to the best advantage. 



Virginia tobacco requires 20 square yards of seed-bed per 

 acre, and Turkish about fifty square yards. 



Covering. — The young seedlings should be covered with 

 grass or cheese cloth, to modify the extremes of temperature. 

 Cheese cloth is preferred, since it serves as a protection against 

 insects (Split-worm and Stem-borer), and, moreover, it allows 

 sufficient sunlight for proper growth. At night it checks 

 radiation. 



Care of Seed-Beds. — Water should be applied by means 

 of a watering-can only, increasing from a fine to coarse rose 

 until the plants are of a fail' size and well rooted, when the 

 rose can be dispensed with. During the early growth, the 

 cheese cloth should be removed only for watering ; later it 

 should be removed for a few hours each morning. After this 

 the exposure can be increased, so that by the time the plants 

 are ready for transplanting, the beds, to prevent insect injury, 

 should be covered only at night. This, accompanied by apply- 

 ing only sufficient water to prevent excessive wilting, is to 

 harden the plants for transplanting. 



A sickly, poor growth, may be due to insects, poor drain- 

 age, lack of plant food, or over-crowding. If the latter, the 

 plants should be thinned. If the plants are of a yellowish 

 colour, owing to a deficiency of nitrogen, then a liquid manure 

 should be applied, e.g., sodium nitrate (one pound to eisfht 

 gallons of water), or fowl manure steeped and the liquid applied 

 after a few days. This should be applied on a dull day, and 

 watered immediately afterwards to avoid injury to the leaves. 



Seed Selection. — The plants from which seed is to be 

 taken should be selected along the following lines. Naturally, 

 only pure types suitable to the locality and fulfilling the desired 

 requirements should be selected. 



