SOWING TOBACCO SEED 493 



The size of the bed is naturally governed by the acreage 

 to be planted. Enough plants can be produced on from 75 

 to 100 square feet to plant an acre, but it is safer to have 

 from 150 to 200 square feet of bed for each acre to be planted. 

 This gives much more opportunity for the selection of the 

 best plants. The most convenient shape for the plant bed 

 is one about 3 feet wide and as long as may be necessary, 

 for this width makes it easy to reach to any portion of it from 

 one side or the other. 



644. Sowing the Seed. As the seed is very small, it is 

 usually mixed with dry wood ashes or some other fine material 

 to give bulk and insure even distribution. A teaspoonful of 

 seed will sow from 200 to 300 square feet of bed. Before 

 sowing, the light and immature seeds should be blown out 

 with a tobacco-seed grader, as the larger, heavier seeds give 

 much better plants. The date of seeding depends 

 largely on the date of the latest spring frost. In order to 

 have the plants ready for setting in the fields as soon after 

 this date as possible, the seed should be sown about two 

 months previous. This necessitates March seeding in Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, while the seed is sown in 

 April in the states farther north. The seed should be dis- 

 tributed over the bed as evenly as possible and covered very 

 lightly. The usual method of covering is to sprinkle the bed 

 thoroughly with water, though a board is sometimes used to 

 press the seed into the soil or it is covered by brushing the 

 surface of the bed lightly with a whisk broom. 



Because of this early seeding, some protection from cold 

 is necessary. This is usually provided by driving stakes into 

 the ground along the edges of the bed and building a tight 

 enclosure of boards about 1 foot high. This is then covered 

 with glass or plant muslin, the cloth being more commonly 

 used, as it gives better ventilation, is cheaper, and the 



