﻿THE CULTURE OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. 



21 



Belt section, generally will be decidedly better in quality, particu- 

 larly in respect to color, than the later cuttings. In the New Belt 

 and the eastern part of the Old Belt the harvest season, running 

 through July and August, naturally comes in warm weather, and 

 this is a distinct advantage, but even there the earlier curings are 

 likely to be best in quality. Fairly early planting is to be preferred, 

 therefore, even in that section, and the plants live better if trans- 

 planted before the weather becomes too hot and dry. But in the 

 western part of the Old Belt the grower should make a strenuous 

 effort to have an early crop by planting early and by choosing land 

 on which the plants will grow quickly. 







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Fig. 3. — A bed of tobacco plants, with the cloth cover removed, ready for trans- 

 planting. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL FOR TRANSPLANTING. 



As already indicated, the best system of tobacco farming, particu- 

 larly in the Old Belt, will provide for the fall or winter plowing of 

 the tobacco land. The winter freezing will mellow the soil and the 

 winter and spring rains will be better held for the use of the growing 

 crop during the summer. Little faith should be placed in the oft- 

 heard assertion that shallow plowing (3 or 4 inches) is best for 

 tobacco, although in the Old Belt it probably would be unwise to 

 turn up any considerable quantity of a stiff clay, but unless a field 

 can be plowed as much as 6 inches deep without so doing, it is prob- 

 ably not well suited to bright tobacco. 



If the field has been fall or winter plowed no further preparation 

 will be necessary in the spring until it is time to fit the land for 

 transplanting. The disk harrow is the best implement for working 

 the soil into a good tilth, if followed by a drag harrow just before 

 laying off the rows. 



