8 



HOW TO RAISE TOBACCO. 



der, and subsoiling any portions that may be very stiff 

 and hold to water near the surface ; and let the land be 

 well harrowed directly after breaking it up. It should 

 then be kept clean, light, and well pulverized by occa- 

 sional working with cultivators and large harrows, so 

 as not to disturb the turf beneath the surface. When 

 the plants are of good size for transplanting, and the 

 ground in good order for their reception, the land, or 

 BO much as can be planted in a " season," should be 

 "scraped," which is done by running parallel furrows, 

 with a small seeding-plow, two and a half feet apart, and 

 then crossing these again at right angles, preserving 

 the same distance, which leaves the ground divided in 

 checks or squares of two and a half or three feet each 

 way. The hoes are then put to work and the hill is 

 formed by drawing the two front angles of the square 

 into the hollow or middle, and then smoothed on top 

 and patted by one blow of the hoe. The furrows 

 should be run shallow, for the hills should be low and 

 well leveled off on the top, and, if possible, a slight 

 depression near the center, so as to collect the water 

 near the plant. The first fine rain thereafter, the 

 plants should be removed from the seed-beds, and one 

 carefully planted in each hill. A brisk man can plant 

 from five to six thousand plants per day. The smaller 

 or weaker hands, with baskets filled with plants, pre- 

 cede the planters, and drop the plants on the hill. In 

 drawing the plants from the bed, and carrying them 

 to the ground, great care should be taken not to bruise 

 or mash them. They ought to be put in baskets or 

 oarrels, if removed in carts, so that no. many will be 

 in a heap together. The plants should never be planted 

 deeper than when they stood in the bed. Planting is 

 done thus : Seize the plants dropped on the hill with the 

 left hand ; with one finger of the right hand make 

 a hole in the center of the hill, and with the left 

 put in the root of the plant. >The dirt is well 

 closed about the roots of the plants, (put in with the 

 left,) by pressing the fore-finger and thumb of the right 

 hand on each side of the plant, taking care to close 

 the earth well about the bottom of the root. If sticks 

 are used to plant with, they should be short, and the 

 planter should be careful uot to make the hole too 

 deep. The plants should be very carefully planted, 

 for if the roots are put in crooked and bent up, the 

 plant may live but never flourish, and, perhaps, when 

 too late to replant, it will die, and then all the labor 

 will be wasted. In three or four days it may be weeded 

 out, that is, the hoes are passed near the plants, and 

 the hard crust formed on the hills pulled away, and 

 the edges of the hill pulled down in the furrows ; this 

 is easily done if performed soon after planting, but if 

 delayed, and the ground gets grassy, it will then be found 

 a very troublesome operation. After weeding out, 

 put a gill of equal parts of plaster and ashes well 

 mired, upon each plant. In a few days, say a week or 

 less time, run a small plow through it, going twice 

 In row This is a delicate operation, and requires a 



steady horse and a skillful plowman, for without 

 great care the plants will be knocked up or be killed 

 by the working. In a week after, the tobacco culti- 

 vator or plow must be used. Either implement ia 

 valuable at this stage of the crop. But once in a row 

 is often enough for either cultivator or shovel-plow 

 to pass. The crop can now be made with their use 

 by working the tobacco once a week for four or five 

 weeks, going each time across the former working. 

 Any grass growing near the root of the plants should 

 be pulled out by hand. As soon as the tobacco has 

 become too large to work without injuring the leaves 

 by the single-tree, the hoes should pass through it, 

 drawing a little earth to the plants when required and 

 leveling the furrows made by the cultivator and shovel. 

 Let this hoeing be well done, and the crop wants no 

 more working. Care should be taken to leave the 

 land as level as possible, for level culture is best. 

 \ TOPPING. When it blossoms, the best plants ought 

 to be selected for seed ; one hundred plants being 

 enough to save for seed to sow a crop of forty thou- 

 sand pounds. All the rest should be topped before 

 blossoming indeed, as soon as the blossom bud is fairly 

 formed. It should be topped down to the leaves that 

 are six inches long, if early in the season, but if late, 

 top still lower. If the season is favorable, in two weeks 

 after a plant has been topped it will be fit for cutting, 

 yet it will not suffer by standing longer in the field. 

 From this stage of the crop, until it is in the house, it 

 is a source of solicitude and vexation to the planter. 

 He is fearful of storms, of frost, and worms, his worst 

 enemy they come in crowds, " their name is legion " 

 and the suckers are to be pulled off when they get 

 three or four inches long, they spring out abundantly 

 from the bottom of the plant or leaf where it joins the 

 stalk. Ground leaves are those at the bottom of the 

 plant which become dry on the stalk ; gather then, 

 early in the morning, when they will not crumble. 



WORMS. These ought to be pulled off and killed 

 as fast they appear, or they will destroy the crop. 

 Turkeys are of great assistance in destroying these 

 insects; they eat them and kill thoK.jinds which they 

 do not eat, for it seems to be a cherished amusement 

 to them to kill worms on tobacco ; they grow passion- 

 ately fond of it they kill for the love of killing. 

 There are every year two " gluts," as they are called 

 by planters ; the first attacking the plants about the 

 time that they are about one third or half grown, the 

 other comes on when the tobacco is ready for cutting. 

 The first can be easily subdued by a good supply of 

 turkeys, and if then they are effectually destroyed the 

 second glut will be very easy to manage, for it is the 

 opinion of many intelligent and experienced planters 

 that the greater portion of the first glut reappears the 

 same year, as horn-blowers, and breed myriads. When 

 the second army of worms makes its appearance, the 

 tobacco is so large that the turkeys do but little good. 

 The only method, then, to destroy them, is to begis 



