CULTUUK AND CURING IN MARYLAND. 



91 



In Howard county the usual practice is to lay oft' the rows three feet apart, fertilize in the drill, cover the manure 

 -with a corn-covercr or with two furrows of a light turn-plow, and lay off in checks 2 feet s inches or 3 feet. Hills 

 are made in the checks, chopped fine, and leveled with the hand hoe. The practice in other counties is not 

 materially different. 



Some planters first weed with the hand hoe, then plow both ways, two furrows each time, or once through 

 each way with the double shovel, cultivate again both ways, and finish up with the hand hoe, dressing the hills. 

 This generally suffices upon clean land, well prepared ; but, if necessary, cultivation is repeated every ten days until 

 the plants are so large as to prevent further working. Upon most of the soils of this tobacco region it has been 

 found that frequent shallow plowings after the plant has started into rapid growth are best, and that, in average 

 seasons, deep plowing after the first cultivation is not advisable. 



PRIMING, TOPPING, AND SUCKERING TOBACCO. 



In Prince George's county priming is not done until the bottom leaves are large enough to be pulled off and 

 saved as "ground leaves". These are gathered when the tobacco is matured and ready to be cut. The ground 

 leaves are saved easily, and are quickly put into market. The plants are topped low, and the suckers are pinched out 

 as fast as they appear. Cutting begins about the time the first suckers are large enough to pull off. The whole 

 field is topped at once. 



The same methods prevail throughout most of the tobacco region of Maryland. Priming is rarely done. The 

 tops are pinched out as soon as the seed-bud appears, and cutting follows within from ten days to three weeks after 

 topping. 



In hot, damp weather the plants ripen more slowly than when warm and dry. They mature faster in dry 

 weather, unless very cool, and "ground leaves" will accumulate. 



In Prince George's county cutting begins about the first of August and continues till the last of September. In 

 Howard the work of harvesting begins during the latter part of August, and is usually finished by the middle of 

 September. Only five to thirty days intervene between topping and cutting. 



HARVESTING AND HOUSING OF TOBACCO. 



In harvesting and housing tobacco the plants are cut two rows at a time and laid on the ground, the butts a 

 little to the right of the operator. The next two rows are then cut and laid in like manner, the butts of the last 

 in close proximity to the first, and a boy follows, depositing tobacco-sticks at proper intervals for use 

 in spearing. The implement used for this purpose is a spear-shaped piece of iron, with a socket, 

 into which the tobacco lath tits. Sometimes a small trestle is used as a support for the spear, but 

 experts do not require it. Experts place the end of a lath in the socket of the spear, resting the 

 other end on the ground ; hold the spear end with the left hand, grasp a stalk with the, right at the 

 bntt end, and place it on the top of the spear, about 4 inches from the end. As soon as the spear 

 has penetrated the stalk, release the hold of the lath with 

 the left hand and place it on the stalk to the left of the 

 spear point, and then press down with both hands until 

 the spear head has passed through the stalk and the 

 latter is fairly strung on the lath, as indicated in the 

 illustration. 



Six or eight plants are speared upon each stick. These 

 sticks, filled with tobacco, are set up in the field, in rows, in 

 shocks of eight or ten stici^ each. A cart or wagon is driven 

 between the rows and is loaded from either side, great care 

 being taken not to bruise the plants in handling. The 

 tobacco is carted to the barn and the sticks are placed on 

 the tiers, or it is hung out of doors on scaffolds. Cutting is 

 done in the morning, as soon as the dew is off, or after four 

 o'clock in the afternoon on bright, hot days, so that the plants 

 may not be sunburned. 



In southern Maryland the tobacco-houses are generally 

 large frame structures, from 15 to 20 feet high, 20 to 30 feet 

 wide, and 30 to CO feet long. A barn of medium size, 24 by 

 40 feet and 10 feet high, is capable of curing 3,000 to 3,500 

 pounds of tobacco, and if built of good material, underpinned 

 with stone or brick, such a house will cost about $400. 

 Tobacco-houses are usually constructed somewhat open, to 



permit the free circulation of air, and some are so built as to admit or shut out the air at pleasure, 

 cost about $1 per thousand. 



Tobacco-sticks 



