TOBACCO CULTURE. 417 
Virginia, resemble in texture the finest satins and silks. This 
result has been reached, not by the sacrifice of the strength 
of the leaf, but by the most careful culture and improved 
methods of curing. 
The first labor to be performed in connection with the 
growth of a crop of tobacco, is the selection of a site for, and 
the making of, the “plant bed” or “plant patch.” These 
beds for the early growth of the plants until large enough to 
transplant, are made in various ways and at different times, 
according to the method of tilling adopted and the climate. 
In California the tobacco bed is made in January, in the 
Southern States, Syria, Turkey, and Holland, in March. In 
New England in April. In Mexico and Java in June, and 
in Persia in December. In the Connecticut valley the 
manner of making the 
PLANT BED, 
as given by a Massachusetts tobacco-grower, is as follows :— 
“No rigid rules can be given for any process in tobacco 
culture, which depends much upon weather and season, but 
certain advantages may be obtained by skillful adaptation of 
general principles to circumstances. This is especially true 
of raising tobacco plants, which occupy an extremely slight 
depth of ground for weeks after sowing, making it necessary 
to prepare the whole soil with reference to. the state of this 
thin surface. Any slight mistake of treatment may make in 
the end a difference of several days; consequently each item 
is of importance. While every tobacco-raiser wants early 
plants, and appreciates the value of a good location for grow- 
ing them, many naturally sheltered spots of ground, protected 
from northerly winds by buildings, trees, or hills, remain 
unappreciated. Tight board fences are no protection worth 
mentioning. 
“A heavily manured crop of tobacco would fit such places 
for tobacco beds, and leave them freer from weeds than any 
other cultivation ; and a subsequent use of some commercial 
fertilizer would avoid the introduction of weed seed. With 
these precautions, and a careful destruction of all neighboring 
weeds, a tolerably clean bed may be expected. To prepare 
the ground, plow or loosen deeply with a large cultivator ; 
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