20 TOBACCO CULTURE IN THE WEST INDIES 
Weeding should not be necessary in a seed-bed, but often 
the land is more weedy than it ought to be and it becomes 
necessary to weed by hand. 
Thinning-out is practically unknown in tobacco seed- 
beds, but it is very good practice to remove surplus plants 
and leave more room for the remaining ones. If the seed 
is sown in drills it is almost possible to thin out to one 
plant per square inch by using a steel rake with broad teeth 
one inch apart and drag it across the bed. This takes out 
most of the surplus plants and saves a great deal of hand 
labor. 
With one plant per square inch, one acre of beds three 
feet wide and one foot apart will contain 4,704,930 plants 
or for practicable purposes four and one half million. 
SEED BED ENEMIES 
If the soil has been sterilized, there will be but little 
trouble afterwards, but without this the loss from fungi 
is almost sure to be heavy. This loss oceurs principally 
while the plants are just appearing and can often be check- 
ed by spraying with (1) Bordeaux Mixture. 
(1) How to make Bordeaux Mixture.— Dissolve 6 pounds of 
copper sulphate in 25 gallons of water. Slake 6 pounds of good 
stone Jime in a small amount of water and strain out all lumps and 
grit. Then pour the copper sulphate solution and the lime water 
simultaneously into a 50 gallon barrel while stirring briskly. This 
mixture should be used within a few hours after mixing. If the 
lime is not fresh and partly air slaked more may be required and 
it is safest to test the mixture. Take one oz. ferrocyanid of po- 
tassium (a very poisonous substance which must be handled with 
are) and dissolve it in 5 ounces of water. Take a little of the 
Bordeaux Mixture in a glass and add a drop of the ferrocyanid 
solution. If the drop makes a yellow spot where it falls the mix- 
ture is all right whereas if it makes a brick red spot more lime 
must be added. 
