TOBACCO 



TOBACCO 



645 



sufficient to kill most of the plants. When irriga- 

 tion is used in growing the general crop, a system 

 of overhead spray nozzles has been found to give 

 excellent results. In every case, before undertaking 

 the process of weeding the bed, it is most 

 important to water thoroughly. This will 

 prevent any serious injury to the roots of 

 the tobacco plants. 



Tke field crop. — The preparation of the 

 field soil for Sumatra tobacco must be thor- 

 ough and complete. The soil should be pul- 

 verized by successive plowing and harrow- 

 ing, and reduced to a fine condition before 

 transplanting. Deep plowing and subsoiling 

 cause a retention of moisture in the soil if 

 the season is too dry, and at the same time 

 afford the best opportunity for proper drain- 

 age if there is an excess of rainfall during 

 the growing season. The disk-plow and 

 disk-harrow have been used very success- 

 fully in the preparation of tobacco soils, 

 particularly where the content of clay is 

 comparatively small. 



A very satisfactory fertilizer consists of 

 1,000 pounds of cotton seed, 1,000 pounds of 

 cottonseed meal, 300 pounds of carbonate of 

 potash, 700 pounds of fine-ground bone and 800 

 pounds of lime to the acre. The cotton seed should 

 be put on the field after it has been plowed and 

 three weeks or one month before it is finally pre- 

 pared for transplanting. Wherever it can be had, 

 cow manure should be used broadcast at the rate of 

 twenty to twenty-five loads per acre. This pro- 

 motes very rapid growth and often becomes the 

 means of securing a good crop on land badly in- 

 fested with nematodes. This plant-food enables the 

 plant to throw out new roots faster than the nema- 

 todes can destroy the old ones. When no cover-crop 

 is grown during the winter the land should be 

 plowed frequently and kept thoroughly stirred. 

 This destroys many of the nematodes. This con- 



When produced for wrapper purposes, the 

 Sumatra variety of tobacco is usually grown under 

 shade. (Pig. 868.) The purpose of the shade is to 

 protect the crop from insects and other dangers 



Fig. 870. 



Seed-beds used for Connecticut Havana 

 tobacco. 



stant cultivation also prevents, to some extent, the 

 depredations of the thrips; it prevents the growth 

 of grass and weeds, which serve as host plants for 

 this insect. 



871. Tobacco transplanting machine. See also Figs. 230, 843. 



and by reason of reducing the light to secure a 

 thin leaf. The effect of the shade is also shown in 

 infiuencing the humidity of the atmosphere and 

 the temperature. The plants under shade show a 

 much more rapid growth than the outside tobacco, 

 and the leaves are finer, very thin and elastic, and 

 with very small veins. Such characteristics in 

 wrapper tobacco are desired by manufacturers. 



When transplanting the young plants to the field, 

 it is desirable to make a selection of the best and 

 most vigorous plants in the seed-bed. At this early 

 stage of growth the most vigorous plants having, 

 the largest and best-shaped leaves, can be very easily 

 distinguished by the grower and selected for the 

 field. 



The ordinary distance for Sumatra under cloth 

 is three feet three inches apart for rows, and twelve 

 inches apart in the row. Under slat shades the 

 distance between the plants in the row is usually 

 increased to about fourteen inches. 



Before removing the young plants from the seed- 

 bed, the bed should be thoroughly watered and the 

 plants taken out with all possible care. In set- 

 ting the plants in the field care should be taken to 

 avoid binding and doubling the roots, and the 

 necessary application of water should not be over- 

 looked. It is often found beneficial, just before 

 transplanting, to water the soil where the plant is 

 to be set, and to water again shortly after trans- 

 planting. 



The cultivation of the crop should include the 

 removal of all weeds from the field, particularly 

 during the early stages of growth, and the keeping 

 of a loose mulch on the surface of the soil. It is 

 the custom to hoe the young plants twice and to 

 use some form of cultivator at least once a week 

 during the remainder of the season until the plants 

 have become too large for inter-tillage. In many 

 instances it has been found desirable and practi- 



