THE CrLTVRE OF rOJlACCO. 



43 



There are two methods of growing the plants: one method is 

 known as level cultivation and the other as hill cultivation. The 

 system of level cultivation is perhaps liest where there is no 

 danger of excessive moisture in the soil. In this case the field is 



maiked off into i-ows, three to thiee and a half feet apai t, and the j^lants 

 set at the distance of three feet in the rows. If it is desired to use 

 the hoi-se cultivator in both directions, the field is marked both ways, 

 so that the plants -n-ill " check row.' If the soil is inclined to be wet 

 at any time duiing the season, the field is thrown up in ridges three and 

 a half feet apart, and the tobacco set on the tojjs f>f these ridges. The 

 ridges are formed with a small plcaigh or with a hoi'se cultivator using 

 the wing adjustment. 



The distances of three and three and a half feet hold true only for 

 the ordinary smoking and manufacturing types of tobacco. Most of 

 the cigar varieties aie planted much closer ti.>getlier in the row. The 

 Cuban and Sumatia tobaccos are but a foot to fourteen inches apart in 

 the low. Some of the stronger growing varieties ai'e planted from 

 eighteen inches to two and a half feet apart. The distance depends ■.■n 

 the size of the plants. If a eigai- tobacco be given too much room, the 

 leaf "will become too large and coarse for cigar purposes. Sumatra 

 tobacco when first grown in Florida was very neaiiy a failure, for the 

 reason that it was set too far apart and became coarse. In Sumati'a, 

 whei'e hand labour alone is used, the plants are placed two feet apart in 

 each direction : but Sumatra has a heavy rainfall and a tropical climate, 

 so that the plants grow very rapidly and are fine in texture. This 

 distance might not do for localities where the condition for a rapid 

 growth was less favourable. In America the rows are always at least 

 from thi'ee feet to thi-ee and a half feet apai-t, for the reason that most 

 of the work is done by means of horse cultivators. In a new locality 

 growers must determine the distance by experiments. 



If the day be cloudy planting maybe done at any time, but if the 

 day l:>e hot and dry, the planting should be left until the last half of 

 the aftei'noon, so as to give the pjlants an opp(.ii'tunity to recover and 

 establish themselves duiing the coolness of the night. "Where the 

 planting is done by hand, the plants are dropped along the row at 

 regular intervals by a small bov. Immediately after the plant 



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