TOBACCO CULTURE IN THE WEST INDIES °5 
age engine will supply 100 gallons per minute for each 
horse power with a lift of 30 feet. That is the capacity of 
a 30 horse power engine would be 3000 gallons per minute 
with a distance of 30 feet between the water level and 
the top of the tank. These figures stand in proportionate 
relations. If the distance is doubled the capacity is halved 
or vice versa, so that at a 60 foot lift a 30 horse power 
engine would pump only 1,500 gallons and at a 90 foot lift 
only 1,000 gallons por minute. 
Whenever the land is reasonably level and not too per- 
vious it is practicable to water in the furrow. That is, 
to let the water into the furrows from the faucets and let 
it flow in the furrows some distance, but in many tobacco 
soils too much water is lost through seepage. Tobacco can- 
not be watered with a hose because it“injures the plant to 
drag the hose back and forth and it is undesirable because 
it sprinkles dirt onto the lower leaves and injures them. 
In Cuba tobacco fields are frequently watered with cans 
and a system of overhead sprinkling is used with good 
success. 
PREPARING THE FIELD 
Tobacco is usually grown on the same land for several 
years in succession and it is customary to leave the field 
lay without cultivation from the time of harvesting to the 
time of planting the next crop. This time being the rainy 
season, the weeds naturally grow rank and leave a great 
deal of vegetable matter to be plowed under. This is of 
great benefit because it supplies humus, which is very 
necessary in a tobacco soil. It would be much better how- 
ever, to plant a crop of legumes for plowing under, and 
