538 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



This brings tobacco immediately after cowpeas, after 

 which the rotation is repeated. 



In the limestone region of Kentucky the best position for 

 tobacco is believed to be after a blue-grass sod, which supplies 

 the necessary vegetable matter. Tobacco is then grown two 

 years. It is followed by wheat, in which is sown a mixture of 

 the seeds of clover, timothy, and blue-grass, with a view to again 

 getting the field, after a few years, into blue-grass. For the 

 same region the following four-year rotation has been suggested, 

 where it is not practicable for tobacco to follow blue-grass : — 



First year : tobacco. 



Second year : wheat with grass seed. 



Third year : clover and timothy. 



Fourth year : clover and timothy. 



In the bright-tobacco districts of North Carolina a good 

 plant to furnish the necessary vegetable matter and nitrogen is 

 crimson clover, which may enter the rotation as a catch crop 

 after cotton or corn and either immediately before, or a year 

 preceding, the time when tobacco is to occupy the field. 



Harvesting and Curing 



527. Indications of maturity. — Tobacco will usually 

 be ready for harvesting in three to three and a half 

 months after the plants are set, or somewhat more than 

 a month after the date of topping. The ripening of to- 

 bacco is shown by the following symptoms : (1) The 

 leaves change from a deep green to a lighter shade of green, 

 with a faint tendency to yellowing or to yellowish mottling. 



(2) The leaf tends to crumple, especially along the edge. 



(3) The leaf veins become quite brittle, so that when the 

 leaf is folded between the fingers, a clear, distinct break 

 is made. (4) The leaf becomes heavier and somewhat 

 less smooth to the touch. 



