TOBACCO. 



11 



ful over the same surface, to secure a good, stand. Injury by frosts or bugs may 

 require a third or fourth sowing. Sow a little thick rather than too thin to meet 

 contingencies, and secure a good stand in time. 



The best way to bow the seed is to mix them thoroughly with a fertilizer or 

 dry ashes, and sow once regularly over the bed, reserving seed enough to cross- 

 sow to promote regularity. The tobacco seed is the spaallest of all farm seeds, 

 and consequently requires a light covering. If the seed are sown before the 20th 

 of February, the best way is to firm the surface of the bed by treading it over 

 closely, but if sown later, sweep lightly over with a brush or light rake. Then 

 run surface drains through the bed, with inclination enough to pass off the w^er. 

 To do this properly, run them off four or five feet apart with the foot, then open 

 with a narrow grubbing-hoe to the depth of three or four inches. Then trench 

 deeply around the outside of the bed, to ward off surface water and prevent wash- 



Mulching and Covering. — Hog hair whipped, fine and scattered over the bed 

 attracts and retains moisture, protects the plants from frost, and acts as a manure. 

 There is no better covering for a plant bed, but unfortunately it is rarely ever in 

 full supply. Fine brush should be placed thickly over the bed, or, if not handy, 

 cover with straw or chaff free from grain > A covering of some such material is 

 necessary, or the' young plants are likely to be killed by frost or suffer from 

 drought, and they thrive better with some protection. 



Canvas Covering for Plant Beds. — ^A covering of thin cloth has been found t€ 

 hasten the growth of plants and protect them from freezing and injury by the 

 flea-bugs. This makes the bed warmer, and acts as a cold-frame, the canvas tak» 

 ing the place of glass. 



This cut is intended to show how to construct a canvas covering over a plant-bed. 



First, boards should be placed all around the bed close, so as to prevent the 

 little black beetle, or flea, from creeping through, eighteen or twenty inches high 

 on the upper side and isloping to ten or twelve inches on the lower. Then prepare 

 a lot of small stakes (small round poles, one and one half inches in diameter, make 

 good ones), sawed into lengths graduated from two feet to eighteen inches long, 

 and sharpened at one end. Drive these stakes six feet apart, in rows, through 

 the bed for ttie laths, two inches wide and one inch thick, to rest upon. The 

 middle lath should be a plank one inch thick arid si^c iticfi^s wide. Then drive 



