TOBACCO. 21 



Never "scrape down" tobacco with the hoe without putting back on the hill 

 or bed as much dirt as is scraped down. This will prevent baking, and save 

 many plants should a dry spell follow the hand-hoe working. 



Any process which stirs the soil effectually and often, 

 and keeps the plants free from grass and weeds, will con- 

 stitute good cultivation, no matter how and with what 

 implement done. Old land will require more work in cul- 

 tivation than new, and dark grades more than 

 bright. Short singletrees should be used after the 

 plants are half grown, to prevent tearing and 

 breaking the leaves. 



The yellow grades should be cleared of grass] 

 and weeds before the first of August, 

 and not plowed thereafter; but the hoes 

 may be used at any time to clear out 

 the crop till the leaves commence 

 graining. The longer tobacco is plowed 

 the later the plants will be 

 ripening; therefore, the impor- 

 tance of giving early 

 thorough cultivation. 

 Any one who can raise^ 

 good cabbages ought tol 

 know how to cultivatel 

 tobacco, as the cul- 

 tivation is very similar 

 Sometimes it becomes 

 necessary to push the plants forward, where previous manuring has proved inad- 

 equate, to hasten ripening, so as to escape frost and to cure well. I would advise 

 the use of some good standard fertilizer, applied around the plants, in quantity 

 about 150 pounds per acre, and earth scraped upon the fertilizer around the tops 

 of the hills as applied. 



PEUNING AND TOPPING. 



Under this head there is wide difference of opinion. ;Breaking off the small 

 and inferior leaves of the plant near the ground is called "priming," or priTning 

 proper, which operation is done along with the "topping," if done at all. There 

 are advantages for and against priming, but all resort to topping — ^plucking out 

 the seed bud and adjacent small leaves with the thumb and finger. Some contend 

 that pulling off the lower leaves saps the plants and retards the growth if the 

 weather is dry. That permitting the lower leaves to remain on the stalk protects 

 the upper ones from sand and grit, makes them cleaner, and therefore more sal- 

 able. Sand and grit are the terror of the tobacco buyer. On the other hand, it 

 is contended by some that by pulling off the lower leaves, which are generally 

 useless, the remaining leaves receive more nutriment and contain more wax, oil, 

 and gum, and that the lower leaves harbor worms and make the worming procecc 

 more tedious. 



Bemls Tobacco Transplanter 



