﻿22 BULLETIN 16, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



DISTANCE OF PLANTING. 



The space allowed each plant in the field, that is, the distance of 

 planting, is a matter of considerable importance in determining the 

 quality and to some extent the yield of tobacco produced. Careful 

 attention should be given the matter of proper spacing when setting 

 out the crop, and a strenuous effort should be made to secure a good, 

 even stand over the whole field as promptly as possible. The real 

 importance of this matter will be clear by observing the effects of a 

 broken stand of plants on an improved field just before the harvest. 

 "Where the stand is regular the tobacco will probably be smooth and 

 fine and ripened nicely. But where some of the plants are missing 

 the surrounding plants will be overgrown and coarse and will neither 

 ripen, 3 T ellow, nor cure well. Because of the increased feeding space, 

 without competition from other plants, they are overfed and rendered 

 overgrown and coarse and of greatly diminished value. 



In the flue-cured district the customary distances of planting give 

 about 4,000 to 5,000 plants to the acre. In the New Belt it is more 

 usual to space the rows about 4 feet apart, with the plants from 

 2 to_2^ feet apart in the rows; and in the Old Belt, particularly in 

 the western part, the more common distance between the rows is 3^ 

 feet, with the plants from 2| to 3 feet apart in the rows. The 

 reason for the wider spacing of the rows in the New Belt doubtless is 

 largely because of the greater convenience in getting through the 

 wider rows with the mule and truck used at harvest time for hauling 

 out the leaves, and also because the tobacco grows taller and would 

 thus tend to more self-shading in the narrower row. In some sec- 

 tions of the New Belt it is customary to make every eighth row 

 6 inches wider than the others, and at harvest time the mule draws 

 the truck or slide, into which the leaves are put, through this wider 

 space with less danger of breaking the tobacco standing in the rows 

 on either side. 



As the soil becomes richer by better farming methods, much of the 

 tendency for the tobacco to grow coarse and dark can be overcome 

 by thicker planting combined with somewhat higher topping. In 

 some cases 3| feet between the rows and 2 feet between the plants 

 in the row would not be too close for the best results in yield and 

 quality. 



LAYING OFF THE ROWS AND TRANSPLANTING. 



For laying off the rows the bull-tongue single-shovel plow is a 

 good implement. After distributing such fertilizer as is to be used 

 in the row, it should be incorporated with the soil by going along 

 the row with a double or single shovel plow or other suitable imple- 

 ment, after which the rows are bedded by turning two furrows 

 together with a 1-horse plow. In a few sections a 4-furrow bed is 



