440 CULTIVATION. 
country the horned-worm, so voracious as to require one night 
only to devour an entire leaf of tobacco. At the South, and 
especially in Virginia, the housewife’s flock of turkeys are 
allowed to range in the tobacco fields and devour many of 
these pests. 
Almost as soon as the plants have been transplanted, the 
work of 
CULTIVATING 
should commence. As the tobacco plant grows and ripens 
in a few weeks from the time it is transplanted in the field, 
it is of the utmost importance that the plants get “ a good 
start” as soon as possible. In a favorable season, and with 
ordinary culture, the plants will do to harvest or “cut” in 
from eight to ten weeks after transplanting. From the rapid- 
ity of its growth it will readily be seen that the plant should 
come forward at once, if large, fine leaves are desired. Ina 
week from the time of transplanting a light cultivator should 
be run between the rows, stirring the soil lightly, after which 
the plants should be hoed carefully, drawing away from the 
hill and plant the old and “baked” earth and replacing it with 
fresh. If the hill is hard around the plant it should be 
loosened by striking the hoe carefully into the hill and gently 
lifting the earth, thus making the hill mellow. This is apt 
to be the case with stiff, clayey soil, which, if possible, should 
be avoided in selecting the tobacco field. 
It is doubtless as true a saying as it is a common one with 
Connecticut tobacco-growers, that the plants will not “start 
much until they have been hoed.” Where the first hoeing is 
delayed two or three weeks, the plants will to a certain 
extent become stunted and dwarfed, and will hardly make up 
for the delay in growing. In from two to three weeks, the 
field should be hoed again, and this time the cultivator should 
mellow the soil a little deeper than the first time, while the 
hoeing should be done in the most thorough manher. Draw 
the earth around the plant and cut up with the hoe all grass 
and weeds, aad remove all stone and lumps of manure and 
