X TOBACCO 215 



noon in order that the seedlings may have the benefit of the 



dew and the cool night air before they are exposed to the 



sun. They must not be set in the ground so that the stems 



and lower leaves are covered up, or a certain portion of them 



will rot off. If dry weather come on, each plant should be Theplantsto 



watered until it is firmly rooted, and after about a week the in dry 



fields must be gone over, and f 



where the seedlings have died. 



fields must be gone over, and fresh plants put in the places ^^^^' ^^' 



Cultivation. — When two or three leaves have grown 

 after the plants have been set out in the fields, the furrows 

 are partly closed with the hoe, the earth being drawn to the Moulding up 



1 Til rr-i • • 1 the plants. 



plants so as to mould them up. This operation may be per- 

 formed every fortnight until the furrows are completely 

 closed, and the soil raised somewhat around the stems of the 

 tobacco plants ; but this hoeing should not be done in very 

 wet weather, as the soil will then be too tenacious to be satis- 

 factorily dealt with. Not a single weed should be allowed All weeds 

 to grow in the field, and the hoeing must be done often eradicated. 

 enough to keep the soil friable and well aired. 



Topping. — In from thirty to forty days after the seedlings The flowers. 

 are planted out, the flower buds will begin to appear at the 

 top of the plants.; and, except in the case of those plants left 

 to produce seed, the end of the stem with the flower bud is 

 to be nipped off with the thumb and forefinger. By this 

 operation from ten to fourteen leaves will be left, and these 

 only should be allowed to mature. The number of leaves The number 

 allowed to grow will depend on the strength of the plant, and aiioweTto 

 the planter must use his own discretion in the matter. srow. 



SUCKERING. — This is the term applied to the operation of 

 removing the buds which appear in the angles formed by the 

 stem and the upper part of the leaf stalks. If these buds Why the 

 were allowed to develop they would grow into side branches l^dtl^e 

 and thus draw away nourishment from the principal leaves. ">pp^^ °^' 

 The buds begin to spring forth in about a week after the 



