TOBACCO CULTURE. 27 



early spring; a sod usually being turned under, unless the 

 land be new. in which case two or three, successive crops of 

 tobacco may be grown. The soil is fined chiefly by the use 

 of the disk harrow, in April or early May. 



The Perique grower plows twice ; first in January when 

 the land is broken about eight inches in depth, as soon as 

 dry enough for the purpose. In February, beds four or five 

 feet wide are thrown up and later smoothed by means of 

 horse rake or harrow. Just previous to planting in March, 

 other beds are turned on top of these and smoothed by hand 

 rake. On these beds the plants are set by hand. The meth- 

 ods of fining the land are about the same in all the tobacco 

 growing districts. 



Tobacco is usually produced by growers who make its 

 cultivation a specialty. They are, like all specialists, intel- 

 ligent and painstaking. They use in their work every im- 

 provement determined by field practice, and study the sug- 

 gestions of scientific men. Thoroughness of cultivation is 

 recognized among all intelligent growers as indispensable 

 to success. 



For Cigar tobacco, everywhere except in Florida, the 

 last plowing is usually followed by the disk harrow, and the 

 fertilizers spread broadcast are then harrowed in, and the 

 surface brought to the desired fineness by the smoothing 

 harrow. If hand planting is practiced, a ridger is used foi 

 throwing up slight beds and marking off the spaces for the 

 plants. Where a transplanter is used, which is now almost 

 universal except among the growers of real Cuban and Sum- 



