210 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



planters are now being used with success where formerly hand setting 

 was practiced. 



When hand setting of tobacco is practiced, the field is bedded instead 

 of flat, the beds are marked off the distance required to plant the seedlings, 



and if the soil is at all 

 dry, water is applied 

 at these places. The 

 plants are then 

 dropped at each mark 

 and a laborer sets 

 them at these places 

 with a dibble. Trans- 

 planting by hand 

 should be done only 

 when the soil is in a 

 good moisture con- 

 dition, or during 

 cloudy or rainy 

 weather. The dis- 

 tance at which the 

 plants are set in the 

 rows depends entirely 

 on the type and com- 

 mercial use of the 

 tobacco. The heavy 

 tobaccos of Virginia 

 and Tennessee and 

 the flue-cured tobaccos 

 of the Caroliiias are 

 usually checked at a 

 distance of thirty-six 

 inches, while cigar leaf 

 tobaccos are set in 

 the drill from twelve 

 to eighteen inches, 

 according to their 

 type. 



Tobaccos of all 



types require frequent and thorough cultivation. No weeds or grass 

 should ever be allowed to grow in the field. Cultivation usually 

 begins about eight days after transplanting, when the young plants 

 should be hoed and given a reasonably deep plowing. This is the 

 only time that a deep cultivation should be given. In the North, riding and 

 walking cultivators are used, having an attachment of shallow running 



A PLANT READY TO SET IN FIELD.* 



1 Courtesy of The Pennsylvania Farmer. 



