492 FIELD CROPS 



a large proportion of vegetable matter and is also compara- 

 tively free from weed seeds and insects. The common 

 practice in many sections where such land is available is to 

 clear off a small patch in an open wood, the surrounding 

 timber furnishing protection from cold and winds. If new 

 land can not be had, then newly-broken sod is commonly 

 used. Cultivated land should be used only when no other 

 is available; but if it must be resorted to, it should be well 

 fertilized the previous fall with barnyard manure or tobacco 

 stems and the soluble elements allowed to leach into the soil 

 during the winter. The manure or stems should then be 

 raked off in the spring and the bed treated the same as a new 

 one. Commercial fertilizer may be applied to the bed in the 

 spring instead of the manure, if it is more convenient. In 

 any case, all conditions should be made as favorable as 

 possible to the germination of the seeds and the growth of 

 the plants. 



During the winter, the bed should be burned over to 

 make the soil friable and to kill all weed seeds and insects. 

 This is most commonly accomplished by piling brush and 

 logs over the bed and burning them. A low, steady fire is 

 more effective than a high, quick one. The soil should be 

 thoroughly heated to a depth of several inches. After the 

 burning, the rubbish should be raked off and the surface soil 

 made thoroughly fine by working with the hoe and rake. It 

 should not be stirred deeper than it has been burned, or 

 buried weed seeds will be brought to the .surf ace. In recent 

 years, a long, shallow, movable pan has been used to some 

 extent for burning tobacco beds. This is placed over a fire 

 which is fed from one end, and the surface soil to a depth of 

 2 inches is shoveled into the pan and heated sufficiently to 

 sterilize it. 



