46 



THE ILLD^OIS FAElklEK. ' 



Feb. 



boll vas opened at that period, and yet we now 

 have a fine show of the staple, pronounced by 

 good judges equal to the Tennessee. Nor will it 

 all be ready to pick for some weeks yet. We 

 again repeat that, from our experience thus far 

 we should prefer to risk cotton than wheat, and 

 intend to put ia several acres nest season. 



Wo are no advocate of the use of tobacco, but 

 so long as it is a marketable commodity, our far- 

 mers might as well make a fortunes out of it as 

 others. People will continue to smoke chew and 

 snufF the vile stuff, and so long as they pay 

 for it let them have it. 



The Sorghum crop of the State will not only 

 save a larger amount of money from going out of 

 the state, but it will give thousands of families an 

 abundance of sweetning that never before enjoy- 

 ed that luxury, and in these families will to a 

 great extent counteract the bad effect of too 

 much grease with which their food has been sat- 

 urated. 



We fully agree with Dr. Meeker that Sorghum, 

 cotton and tobacco are to be the great staples of 

 the State, to follow close after, and stand side by 

 side with wheat and corn. 



The State of Illinois is the richest in agricul- 

 tural resources in the Union, and now vacant 

 lands will soon be wanted for active use. So 

 soon as the war is closed and the building of the 

 Great Pacific railway commences, then we shall 

 see our State take another start in the field of 

 progress that will place her second only to the 

 Empire State in wealth and population. — Ed. 



Cultivation of Tobacco- 



g Editors Chicago Tribune : — As there is pros- 

 pect that seed leaf tobacco will command a good 

 price the ensuing year, and as many of our 

 Western farmers are about to enter into the bus- 

 iness who have had little or no experience in cul- 

 tivating the crop, I beg the privilege of suggest- 

 ing a few ideas to them, derived from my own 

 experience, through your wide-spread journal. 

 In selecting the ground for planting, the soil 

 should be dry, rich sand loam, in order to pro- 

 duce a fine leaf and good flavor. Many crop^ 

 have been ruined the past year by planting them 

 on wet bottom lands. When raised upon rich 

 black prairie soil, a course, thick leaf will be 

 produced, with large woody veins and a peculiar 

 bitter taste. The seed is slow in sprouting, and 

 the plants are rarely large enough to transplant 

 from the beds into the field before the 15th or 

 20th of June, hence in this State and in others 

 about the latitude of our own, a rapid growth 

 ie required, in order to obtain a good crop and 

 secure it before the appearance of frost. 

 Iq raising the crop west it is important to 



protect it as far as possible from the strong prairie 

 winds that prevail, as its value depends much 

 upon the integrity of the leaf, therefore timber 

 openings and a southern and eastern slope 

 should be selected, as far as practicable. The 

 best seed leaf in the United States, command- 

 ing the highest price, is raised near Hartford, 

 Conn., in latitude equally far north with our 

 own. In this crop, as in all others, its value and 

 success in raising, depends much upon the seed 

 used. Of the several varieties I think the broad 

 silk leaf adapted to our western climate. The 

 narrow leaf grows longer and thicker, with large 

 veins, hence the advantage of selecting seed 

 from the first mentioned. 



In commencing the cultivation of tobacco, it 

 is of vital importance to have good seed and a 

 bed of early plants, in order to have them trans- 

 planted in season to mature before the appear- 

 ance of frost. As the seed is often ruined by 

 frost while in the capsule, it should be tested 

 before planting by sprouting some portions of it. 

 The ripe seed may also be known by its emitting 

 an oil when mashed upon the thumb nail. The 

 bed for plants should be made rich with manure 

 and plowed in the fall. As soon as the frost 

 leaves the ground in the spring, brush should be 

 strewed over the bed and burned, to destroy the 

 seeds from weeds, and thus save much labor in 

 weeding the bed. 



One tablespoonful of seed to a rod square of 

 ground, evenly sewed upon the surface and roll- 

 ed or trod in, as early in the season as possible, 

 will be what is required. It should be left on 

 the surface. If raked in and buried it will nev- 

 er sprout. The beds should be kept clear from 

 weeds, and should the season be dry may require 

 watering. In order to produce a good crop, the 

 land should be thoroughly prepared and manur- 

 ed, before the time for transplanting. Horse 

 manure seems to be the best fertilizer to culti- 

 vate seed leaf adapted to cigar manufacture. It 

 produces a rapid growth, thin leaf, fine flavor 

 and a white ash when smoked, probably depend- 

 ent upon the ammonia contained in the manure. 

 Tne dressing for the land may be spread on and 

 plowed in or placed more immediately under the 

 plant in drills. In a wet season or dampish soil, 

 the latter method is preferable ; but care should 

 be had to make the drill deep and cover the ma- 

 nure thoroughly. The drills should be three and 

 a half feet apart, and the plants set in straight 

 rows two and a half feet from each other. 

 Transplanting should be done immediately after 

 a rain, if possible, otherwise it will be necessary 

 to water each plant; should be cultivated thor- 

 oughly and kept free from weeds, and also from 

 the green tobacco worm that infests it. If the 

 plants are set as they should be the 15th or 20th 

 pf June, the green worm will require attention 

 in July. Where the fields are large the turkey 

 is of great value in worming the crop. They 

 travel regularly through the rows, picking off 

 such worms as are in sight, and the turkey herd 

 easily tolls them to the rows he wishes them to 

 follow by corn which he carrias in his pocket for 

 the purpose. 



Nabootzva. 



