1881. J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



i37 



are not cut until they are fu^'X ripe- ^^ "o*^ 

 cut when fully matured it will hegiu to lose in 

 ■weight. Among many of the growers in 

 Pennsylvania, this same coui-se la followed. 

 But just here the matter of color steps in and 

 largely directs the matter. Our best growers 

 have demonstrated to their entire satisfac- 

 tion taat tobacco when cut before it is fully 

 ripe will cure a richer, darker brown than 

 ■when left to mature fully; and as the ultimate 

 value is largely dependent on its dark chest- 

 nut color, this settles the matter. There may 

 be a slight loss in weight, it is true, but the 

 increased price the product commands more 

 than compensates for than compensates for 

 the loss in pounds. But this is not the only 

 reason that might be urged for early cutting, 

 although it is amply sutBcient ia itself. Kaiu 

 and hail storms are not unfrequent in tobacco- 

 growing regions, and all are aware how these 

 can damage a crop. We have seen a splendid 

 crop, ready to cut, reduced to poor tillers in 

 five minutes. This is a contingency likely to 

 occur at any hour and not to be lightly re- 

 garded. A single day may decide whether 

 the crop will sell for 25 or 5 cents. Then, 

 again, if the tobacco is a late crop, a well- 

 known acquaintance of the farmer, familiarly 

 called Jack Frost, sometimes comes along 

 when his presence is little desired, and he 

 will settle the value of the crop even more ef- 

 fectually than the tobacco worms, the grass- 

 hoppers, or the flea-beetles. A timely remo- 

 val of the crop from the field is the only rem- 

 edy against this danger. A single day may 

 make all the difference to the planter, and in 

 this matter, as everywhere else along the 

 season's chain, he cannot afford to run any 

 chances. He will, therefore, endeavor to 

 keep on the side of safety, even though it be 

 to cut his tobacco two or three days earlier 

 than he would prefer to cut it. The weight 

 of the various advantages is, therefore, clear- 

 ly on the side of early cutting, and the Lan- 

 caster county planters have, as a rule, made 

 that fact one of the vital points in their to- 

 bacco growing. 



When Not to Cut Tobacco. 

 One of the essential constituents of tobacco 

 is the resinous gum so palpable to the touch 

 when a green leaf is handled. It is one of the 

 most valuable properties, and being freely ex- 

 uded by the glands of the leaf, is liable to be 

 washed off by rains. Tobacco should, there- 

 fore, never be cut immediately after a rahi. 

 Wait three or four days, during which time 

 the plant will again secrete the necessary sup- 

 ply of gum, and then it may be cut without 

 danger from this cause. Neither should the 

 plants be cut while covered with dew. If laid 

 on the ground in that condition dirt is likely 

 to adhere to them. Try and avoid a very hot 

 day if possible in which to cut tobacco. If 

 left too long in the heat to wilt it is likely to 

 sunburn, whether it be in the morning or af- 

 ternoon. The afternoon is the favorite time 

 to cut tobacco with many farmers, but there 

 is no good reason why this should not be done 

 in the morning as well, especially when the 

 day is cloudy and the general condition favo- 

 rable. It must not be forgotten that care is 

 necessary to prevent sunburn. Half an hour 

 is enough under certain circumstances to pro- 

 duce this result. . If there is danger from this 

 source, the tobacco should be turned as it 



lies on the ground. Never cut more in the 

 morning than you can put away by noon, or 

 more in the afternoon than can be taken care 

 of on the same day. 



How to Cut Tobacco. 

 The cutting off of the plonts slwuld be 

 carefully done. Small Sitws, large knives and 

 sharp cutters such as are used in cutting corn 

 arc used. Some prefer one instrument and 

 some another; so that the work is done quick- 

 ly and easily it don't matter what instrument 

 is used. The operator seizes the stem of the 

 plant— not the leaves— with his left hand, 

 bends it over slightly and cuts or saws it off 

 with his right hand near the ground, below 

 the lowermost leaf. The plant must be laid 

 on the ground, carefully, so as not to injure 

 the leaves. If several rows are cut through 

 the field at the same time the plants from 

 both may be laid together which will give 

 ample space to perform the operation of spear- 

 ing afterwards. If a number of stalks arc 

 plaied in one heap less walking will have to 

 be done later in the day. The tobacco is left 

 lying in the rows until it has wilted sufficient- 

 ly to admit of any handling; the leaves lose 

 their brittleness and can be manipulated more 

 easily. 



Putting It on the Laths. 



Formerly there were many methods in 

 vogue to hang up the tobacco, but the almost 

 universal practice now is to string the i»lants 

 on laths one and a half inches wide, from five- 

 eighths to three-quarters of an inch thick and 

 four feet long. This is done by means of an 

 iron spear head, beveled on both sides, mode- 

 rately sharp at the cutting edge and with a 

 socket into which the lath fits closely. One 

 end of the lath is placed firmly on the ground, 

 while the iron spear is afllxed to the other and 

 held with the left hand : with the right hand 

 pick up a plant at the butt end and affix it 

 against the spear, then with both hands grasp 

 the plant and press it against until the stalk 

 has been pierced and the plant pushed to its 

 place on the lath. Another practice rapidly 

 coming into vogue by the most advanced 

 growers is to have a socket affixed to the to- 

 bacco wagon itself, which leaves the lath in a 

 horizontal position, and by which the leaves 

 of the plants can be kept from becoming en- 

 tangled, as each stalk is pushed to its proper 

 l)lace on the lath at once, and requires no fur- 

 ther re-arrangement. The leaves are also 

 kept from the ground during this operation, 

 wkich is an important matter. The size of 

 the plants must govern the number that is put 

 on each lath. When they are large, five or 

 six will be enough, for crowding must be 

 avoided; but where they are small seven or 

 eight can be strung on a single lath. When 

 left in the field to wilt first, of course they 

 can be put closer together. Years ago, before 

 the spear was known, the plants were strung 

 up with strings sometimes, or fastened to the 

 rails in the barn with nails. Both these pro- 

 cesses were more tedious and did not give 

 such good results. Latterly a few growers 

 have adopted a plan which we believe possess- 

 es advantages over the method of spearing 

 the plants. This is to use laths a little hea- 

 vier than those now employed, drive nails 

 into them on alternate sides at a sufficient 

 angle to prevent the plants from slipping off 

 while handling them, and on these hang the 



plants by making a small incision at the butt. 

 It is generally conceded that the splitting of 

 the stalk by the spear allows that portion to 

 dry out too rapidly, quicker thau the unsplit 

 portion, and thus the leavi^s cure imevenly. 

 It is also held that the more slowly the stem 

 dries, the finer the leaves will be. Both these 

 advantages are obtained by hanging the plants 

 on the laths by hooks or nails Qrmly attached 

 to or driven into the laths. The one objec- 

 tion to this plan is that the laths prepared on 

 this principle are much more costly, and as 

 most of the growers have the old kiud, they 

 arc unwilling to incur the expense of getting: 

 the other ones. These laths also allow the 

 filling up of a given space more evenly as the 

 leavKS are hung on both sides alternately in- 

 stead of right in the centre as by the old 

 method. Those who use them unite in speak- 

 ing very highly of their many adv.autages. 

 When used in the field, a lath is hung on the 

 rear end of the tobacco wagon in a place 

 specially designed for that purpose, where it 

 is held firmly in its place and when filled a 

 second man on the wagon can hang it over 

 the rails and substitute an empty one to be 

 filled in turn. 



The Tobacco Wagon. 

 There is no more useful implement at the 

 tobacco grower's command than the tobacco 

 wagon. It is the great tool of his trade and 

 the wonder is .it was not invented long before 

 it really was. By means of it the tobacco is 

 safely carried to the field scaffold and from 

 thence to the tobacco barn. No progressive 

 planter should be without one. It is so well 

 known that we deem it unnecessary to de- 

 scribe it here. Suffice it to say that instead 

 of being piled on each other to a height of 

 from three to six feet and liable to great dam- 

 age tiiereby, and thus hauled to the scaffold 

 or barn, the plants after being speared are 

 easily hung on the four feet wide upright 

 frame and transported without sustaining any 

 damage whatever. 



The Tobacco Scaffold. 

 The common practice in Lancaster county 

 is now to scaffold tobacco prior to putting it 

 in the barn. The advantages are, less danger 

 from overcrowding and heating, greater secu- 

 rity to the leaf and economy of space, as wilt- 

 ed plants will occupy far less room in the to- 

 bacco shed than green plants just out of the 

 field. The practice has everything to recom- 

 mend it. The scaflbld is erected in some 

 suitable place in the tobacco field, generally 

 under the shade of some trees. Here posts, 

 forked poles or some other contrivance is set 

 up and on these at intervals of four feet, rails 

 of some sort are affixed horizontally, and 

 sufficiently high not to allow the tobacco to 

 touch the ground ; on these the tobacco lath? 

 with the plants speared on them are hung, 

 and fcft to dry for a period, varying with the 

 fancy of the planter, from three to ten days, 

 when the leaves will hang loosely apart, and 

 they are once more removed upon th^ upright 

 frame of the low tobacco wagon to be carried 

 where they are to be cured and receive their 

 final manipulation. 



Conclusion. 



As we adopted for this series of articles the 



general title of "irow to grow the coming 



CROP," our task properly ends when the ma- 



