96 AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



tight from the ground up for nine or ten feet, and then 

 have frequent openings all around to allow the air to pass 

 freely through while the process of curing is going on, 

 and thus prevent " house burn," or curling up with sudden 

 heat. The number of plants on a stick and distance 

 between the sticks may vary according to the size of the 

 leaf, say, upon sticks four and a half feet long ten plants of 

 small or eight of large size, and about seven inche? 

 between the sticks for the small and ten for the large. 

 As the leaf becomes cured, the sticks containing the plants 

 may be crowded closer together to make room for the later 

 cuttings. Then make small fires of chips or bark, with as 

 little blaze as possible. There should be a sufficient amount 

 of heat to bring the tobacco into a wilted state, and when 

 the tails become a little dry and curl up, the heat may be 

 gradually increased until the leaf is sufficiently cured to be 

 out of danger of moulding or souring. The leaf of tobacco 

 should be dried slowly, and the fires kept going regularly 

 day and night. The length of time for drying or curing 

 will vary, according as the weather, from 4 to 20 days. 

 Much labour and risk may be saved by spreading the leaf 

 on scaffolding out in the sun in fair weather, but care must 

 be exercised that it is not caught in rain. 



Enemies. Tobacco, whilst growing, has several 

 enemies a brown grub commonly known as " the cabbage 

 or ground grub," which attacks the plants when quite 

 young. Its habits are as follows : During the day it is 

 not seen on the plants, but by scraping or stirring the soil 

 for six or eight inches around the stem it may be found 

 within half an inch of the surface. At night it pursues its 

 mischievous depredations by climbing the stalks and eating 

 holes in the leaves and occasionally the stems. This grub 

 generally disappears when the plant is about a foot high. 

 The best way to prevent it is, when the land is prepared 

 for planting, to spread about a ton of quicklime to the acre. 

 Another enemy is a green caterpillar, which generally 

 makes its appearance with the hot weather. There is 

 sometimes also a small white grub that eats its way from 

 the root and ascends through the centre of the stalk. Its 

 presence is shown by the bulging or swelling of the stalk, 



