ISSl.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



57 



be made too rich. In addition to the well 

 rottud barnyard manure that should be plenti- 

 fully spaded into tlief.M(>und, a toi> dressing of 

 some good compost, free from, weed-seed, 

 should be placed on top. The plants are ad- 

 vanced much more rapidly in this way. It is 

 not neces^ary that the site of the seed bed 

 should be changed every year, but when old 

 beds are used a second or third lime, it is de- 

 sirable that their fertility be renewed by a 

 coating of virgin soil several inches thick. 

 The black vegetable mould from \voods is ex- 

 cellent for this purpose. It must be carefully 

 worked into the surface soil. In the South, 

 ■ seed beds are nearly all made in cleared 

 places in the forests, as the insect pests are 

 found to be less troublesome. Of course, the 

 seeds must be sown on top of the compost we 

 have just spoken of, and not worked into it — 

 merely pressed down hard. 



Lastly, when all this has Ihm'U done, a linal 

 top coveriULT nl' luij.' lirisllcs must lie added. 

 Several other sulist;'nicrsarc used in tlie South, 

 such as brushwood of various kinds, but all 

 yield the superiority to bristles. They serve 

 not only to attract and retain the moisture, 

 but furnish warmth to the young plants, and 

 appear to act as a manure besides. Unless 

 used, frosts are likely to play havoc with the 

 seed-btd. They absolutely seem to reiiuire 

 some protection, and none equal to this has 

 yet been found. They are a most valuable 

 adjunct to the seed-bed, and should never be 

 omitted. Care must be taken to sjiread them 

 over the bed c veuly, so as not to choke the 

 plants, as well as to admit plenty of air and 

 sunlight. Common laths may be laid Over 

 them at proper distances to prevent the bris- 

 tles from beiui: carried away by the wind. 

 With some growers the custom is to replace 

 them after the lirst weeding, while others do 

 not. Care nnist, however, be used so that 

 the yoiuig plants shall not be injured during 

 the operation. A rake is the best implement 

 for this purpose. With care the same bristles 

 may be used a number of seasons. 



Open Air Beds Preferable. 



It will be observed that all the foregoing has 

 reference to the growing of plants in the open 

 air, in beds exposed to all kinds of weather. 

 In a few cases plants are grown in hot-beds. 

 We have not deemed it necessary to go into 

 the details required to bring forward the 

 plants in that way. In our opinion the prac- 

 tice should be discouraged. The only advan- 

 tage it ofl'ers is that plants are ready for set- 

 ting out earlier. With onlinary care the open 

 airbed will give you plants early enough to 

 mature before the fall frosts. "Besides, the 

 latter has many advantages. We do not mean 

 in regard to cost and trouble only, but in the 

 great superiority of the plants themselves. 

 The plants are always stronger and hardier. 

 They can stand much more cold and grow far 

 more readily after being set in' the field. A 

 weakj sickly plant is always to be avoided, if 

 possible. The more capable it is of resisting 

 its enemies of whatever kind, the better your 

 chances for a good crop. Our advice there- 

 fore is to Peimsylvania growers to dispense 

 with the hot-bed for tobacco plants; 



Young plants can bear a pretty low tempera- 

 ture before freezing. They are much more 

 easily nipped by the saim- temperature when 

 about maturing, than when iu the seed-bed. 

 A grower of our acquaintance neglected to 

 gather the seed from a plant tliat was left 

 standing in his garden. The winds of autumn 

 scattered it far and wide, and much to bis sur- 

 prise these self-sown seeds developed into hun- 

 dreds of unusually line and hardy plants in 

 the early spring, ail of whicli wi-rc utilized. 



So far as tlie proper time for sowing the 

 seed-bed isconcerncd, much of course depends 

 on the season. .Most farmers I'avorthe earliest 

 moment possible. Erota the middle to the 

 end of March is the usual time in thisconnty, 

 which gives the plants ample time inordinary 

 sea.sous to attain their perfect development 

 before the i>criod of frosts arrives. 

 Care of the Seed Bed. 



The labor of the tobacco grower begitis 

 with the seed bed, and no where during the 



entire season can he less alTord to neglect his 

 work. If the season happens to f>c dry, the 

 warn) sun would soon shrivel up such of the 

 sprouted seed as wa.s not fairly in contact 

 with the soil. This must be watched, and 

 when necessary the beds should be carefully 

 watered every' evening with slightly tei)id 

 water. Tliis'shouhi not, however, be applied 

 in large quantities, but only enougli to keep 

 up the required moisture. Can-ful observa- 

 tion will be the best guide of the farmer in 

 this particular. When there are plentiful 

 showers, of course artiticial watering must be 

 dispensed with. 



Liquid manure is a favorite preparation 

 with which to sprinkle the seed bod, as the 

 jilants can much more quickly utilize the fer- 

 tilizing properties of manures in this shape 

 than any other. lien manure is most eom- 

 moidy employed for this purpose. Care must 

 be taken, nowevcr, not to make the licpiid ex- 

 tract too strong, as it will in such casccs not 



assume a sickly appearance, but It has been 

 known to kill them altogether. The careful 

 grower will, however, note every stage of 

 progress, and modify or altogether abstain 

 from these applications if he sees unfavorable 

 indications. 



When beds have been burned over, the 

 likelihood of weeds is not so great, but under 

 any circumstances more or less will make 

 their appearance. These must be carefully 

 watched and as carefully removed. No im- 

 plemeflt except the fingers of the human hand 

 will answer, and care must betaken to disturb 

 the tobacco plants as little as possible during 

 the operation. 



When the plants make their appearance, 

 the beds should be examined to see whether 

 they are too crowded. If that is the case the 

 surplus ones ought to be removed at once, to 

 give the remaining ones a better chance. A 

 small iron rake with teeth three inches long, 

 curved and set about half an inch apart, has 

 been found efficacious. The hand is perhaps 

 better for this purpose than anything else. 



After the plants begin to show well above 

 the surface a top dressing of manure should 

 be spread over tlie bed to hasten their devel- 

 opment. Almost any kind can be used for 

 this purpose, and various kinds are employed. 

 Nothing better can be applied than a com- 

 pound consisting of one part hen manure, one 

 part unleached wood ashes and two parts 

 Idack woods-earth ; these thoroughly mixed, 

 the lirst and last well pulverized, and the 

 whole .sown broadcast over the beds, will be 

 found to give excellent re.sults. Perhaps 

 well-rotted -stable manure, if rubbed tine 

 enough to do no injury to the growing plants, 

 would be better than anything else. 

 Canvas-Coyered Beds 



While we -discourage the use of hot-beds 

 for the growing of tobacco plants, we confess 

 to a strong partiality for covering the ordinary 

 open air beds with canvas. The advantages 

 are !5o many that we have no room here to go 

 into all the details. If burning the seed-bed 

 were practiced by oiu- growers, and the beds 

 aftervvards carefully covered with canvas, we 

 believe they would rarely experience any 

 trouble from beetles and bugs. The fire would 

 destroy all in the bed, while the canvas would 

 prevent the entrance of any from the outside. 

 The custom is becoming very general among 

 the Kentucky and Tennessee growers, and 

 their testimony is unanimously in favor of its 

 many advantages. It is not an expensive 

 operation. Boards six inches high placed 

 around the beds and closely fitted at the cor- 

 ner are sufficient. Over these the canvas- 

 common brown domestic will answer— must 

 be drawn tightly to prevent sagging in the 

 centre, and then tacked closely to the board 

 frame. The keen blasts of spring are also kept 

 out, and a more uniform temperature is pre- 

 served within. On one side of the frame the 

 covering .should be so lightly fastened as to 

 admit of its easy removal when the bed fir 

 plants reg[uire attention, or when it is desira- 

 ble to expose them more fully to the sun. 

 Further on we will allude to what is said to be 



a sure protection against fleas and bugs by the 

 use of a plant frame or fence around the seed 

 bed, but where the caijvas covering is not 

 necessary. Of coiu'se where the ])recaution 

 of burning the seed-bed is not adopted neither 

 boards nor canvas will afford protection 

 against bugs, as they are no doubt in the soil 

 and will make their way to the surface in due 

 time. 



Insect Pests. 

 The greatest enemies of the tobacco crop 

 are the hordes of insects that come to ravage 

 it. They make their appearance in the seed 

 bed and cease tlnif ilc|ii.il:itions only when 

 the tobacco is bun;; iipiii iIm l.arn. 1 low to 

 overcome them ami sciuic (lie crop in good 



marketable cou,litlon. tin i ',,;. 1 :,,e the 



all iniportaiil qnestioiis. I,,> -> than 



tuv-.fv different insect [,<-: ,. , i. ,| prey- 

 ing upon the tobi.ccocroi, in l„,i,r:,-l, I .omity. 

 Some of them were such as were never known 

 to attack it before. They succeeded in damag- 

 ing the crop to the amount of hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars. Their ravages extended 

 into the adjoining ccmnties of Dauphin, Leba- 

 non, Voik, Beiks and Chester, but nowhere 

 wen^ they so bad as within a radius of ten 

 miles around the city of Lancaster itself. Some 

 years they destroy the seed beds almost en- 

 tirely, but at other times their ravages are not 

 so bad. 



The first destroyers that came along last 

 year were members of what Entomoloj'ists 

 call the HalHcidac family, or " Flea Beetle." 

 The principal ones were the " Cucumber Flea 

 Beetle " — Haltica Cucumeris. " The Downy 

 Flea Beetle," Haltica Pub&icens, and the 

 "Snow Fleas " or " Spring Tails." It was 

 the second brood of the " Downy Flea Bee- 

 tle" that ravaged the crop so badly a few 

 weeks before maturity. The question that 

 concerns our tobacco growers is how the 

 ravages of these insects shall be prevented. 

 They did immense damage in some seed beds, 

 destroying thousands of plants. They seem 

 to be the first insects that attack vegetation 

 in the spring. Several intelligent farmers 

 have, in conversation with us, expressed the 

 hoi)e that the severe winter may have killed 

 olV these invaders and that we shall not be 

 troubled with them this spring. If they do 

 not come, it will not be becatise of the low 

 temperature. One species is often to be ob- 

 served in large numbers on the surface of the 

 snow, hence its common name "snow flea." 

 No amount of cold weather will kill them, 

 and other means must be sought to attain 

 that end. Their size is so minute that they 

 cannot be caught with the hand. Besides, 

 the largest of them are not more than the 

 sixteenth of an inch long, while others are 

 hot larger than coarse grains of gunpowder. 

 They are, besides, able to take long leaps, and 

 when disturbed at once find refuge and safety 

 under the surface of the ground. The small 

 clods especially afford theiu hiding places. 

 How to Kill Them. 



As both they and their larva are to be 

 found in the ground the first thing is to kill 

 those already in the seed bed. To do this it 

 has been recommended to drench the seed 

 bed copiously with hot water several days be- 

 fore sowing. This should be done on a warm, 

 sunshiny day, when they no doubt are near 

 the surface. This plan would no doubt kill 

 all it could be made to reach. To keep out 

 the rest, a board or plank 14 or 15 incl)es 

 high, placed close around the beds, with the 

 earth pressed tightly against it on the out- 

 side, has been found effectual. 



If neither of these precautions has been 

 taken and the lU'C beetle makes its appearance 

 iu the beds, a different course must be pur- 

 sued. .Drenching the beds with a solution of 

 lime has been found effectual. Paris green in 

 water will also do the work. Persian insect 

 powder kills them, if it reaches them, which, 

 however, it cannot always be made to do. A 

 gentleman reports that an application of sul- 

 phur and asafoetida relieved him of the annoy- 

 ances. Carbolic acid and kerosene liave been 

 recommended and tried, but with unsatisfac- 



