648 



TOBACCO 



TOBACCO 



seed. A good method is to cover the seed by 

 lightly raking the surface with an ordinary garden 

 rake, a method preferred by many experienced 

 growers. 



One of the most important points in the raising of 

 a successful crop of Havana tobacco is the care of 



Fie. 875. Load of tobacco in harvest field. Connecticut valley. 



the seed-bed. It is necessary to water the seed-bed 

 frequently, usually once or twice every day during 

 the early stages of growth. If the beds are artifi- 

 cially heated, warm water should be used for this 

 watering process, as cold water cools the beds and 

 checks the growth of the young plants. The surface 

 of the seed-bed should not be allowed to become dry, 

 as a few hours of dry surface will kill all of the 

 young plants. The water should be supplied in the 

 form of a light spray, in order not to disturb the 

 seed or the young plants in the bed or to pack the 

 soil so that in drying it will cake and injure the 

 plants. 



The temperature of the hotbeds should be care- 

 fully regulated, and in no case allowed to rise above 

 100° Fahr. during the day, or fall below 70° Fahr. 

 during the night. If it is possible to maintain an 

 even temperature, the plants will make the most 

 rapid growth, but it is a question whether they 

 will be as hardy as when subjected to the fluctu- 

 ating temperatures corresponding to the natural 

 changes between night and day. The beds can be 

 cooled when necessary by raising the sash if the 

 temperature rises, or the temperature can be raised 

 at night by using lanterns set five or six feet 

 apart in the seed-bed, and by covering the sash 

 with heavy cloth, as ordinary blankets, in order to 

 retain the heat. After the young plants reach the 

 proper size for setting out, usually five to six 

 weeks after sowing in the seed-bed, the sash can be 

 taken oflf most of the time during the day and the 

 beds watered only when the plants begin to wilt. 

 If the plants come up too quickly in any part of the 

 seed-bed, they should be thinned out by using an 

 ordinary garden rake, as for the Sumatra variety. 

 It is necessary to keep out all weeds. Before 

 pulling the weeds, the beds should be thoroughly 

 watered. If flea-beetles or other biting insects 

 attack the young plants in the seed-beds, apply 

 the same treatment as with the Sumatra tobacco. 

 If fungous diseases begin to grow in any part of 

 the seed-bed, it should be thoroughly aired by rais- 

 ing the sash during the day. If this method does 

 not check the growth of the fungus, the beds 

 should be sprayed with a solution of formalin (one 

 part of formalin to 2,000 parts of water). An 

 application of lime dusted over the beds will assist 

 in preventing the spread of fungous diseases. 



The field crop. — The preparation of the field for 

 the plants should be begun in the autumn, if possi- 

 ble, by plowing the land two or three inches deep 

 and sowing a leguminous cover-crop. These legu- 

 minous cover-crops not only prevent washing and 

 loss of fertility during the heavy rains of the fall 

 and winter, but increase the fertility of the soil 

 through the addition of the nitrogen in the tuber- 

 cles of these plants and by reason of their exten- 

 sive root development, which tends to break up 

 and put the soil in the best possible tilth for the 

 young plants. In the spring the land should be 

 replowed, care being used to see that the cover-crop 

 is thoroughly plowed under, with an application of 

 well-rotted stable manure at the rate of twelve to 

 fifteen tons to the acre. In addition to the use of 

 stable manure, it has been found that the follow- 

 ing or a similar fertilizer should be used in order 

 to secure the best results : One ton of cottonseed 

 meal, 200 pounds of carbonate of potash, 500 

 pounds of starter and one barrel of lime to the 

 acre. This should be sowed on the land after 

 plowing and thoroughly worked into the soil with 

 a disk-harrow or by some other means before the 

 young plants are transplanted into the field. 



When the plants begin to bud, all except the 

 individual plants saved for seed purposes should be 

 topped. It is the custom to break the tops off just 

 below the first seed sucker. As a rule, the height 

 of topping must be governed by local conditions, 

 such as the soil fertility and the season. In most 

 cases two or three of the top leaves are removed in 

 topping. It is necessary to remove the suckers 

 before they become injurious to the plant. It will 

 usually be necessary to remove them two or three 

 times during the season. It has been found in the 

 tobacco-breeding investigations that by selecting 

 seed from plants having few suckers, sucker- 

 resistant types of tobacco can be secured, and it is 

 recommended that in the case of all of the wrapper 

 varieties of tobacco, particularly the Havana Seed 

 tobacco, such a method of seed selection be followed. 



Fig. 876. Tobacco— "Loading a horse." Near Hartford, Conn. 



The time' for harvesting this variety of tobacco 

 varies with the season, but the ripeness of the 

 leaves can be distinguished as for the Sumatra 

 variety. By crumpling the leaf, if the surface 

 breaks in straight lines, or "cracks,'' the leaf is 

 said to be ready for cutting. 



