CHAPTEK VI. 



THE CULTURE, MANUFACTURE, AND CONSUMPTION OF 

 TOBACCO. 



Tobacco requires a large amount of care through- 

 out its growth, and an equal solicitude to ensure its 

 safety from damage, when sent to a distance for the 

 use of the consumer. In the outset it is necessary to 

 secure the best land for its cultivation, and that land 

 is soon impoverished by the plant, if it has not the 

 adjunct of good manure. The seed is usually set in 

 beds of made soil, comprising the most unctuous 

 native earth, enriched with wood-ashes, and other 

 manures. March or early in April is the period chosen 

 for placing the seed in the beds, where the young 

 plants remain till May or June, carefully protected 

 against frosts; when the leaves have grown to the size 

 of a dollar and four or five 'appear, they are then 

 transplanted into the tobacco -field, a day of warm rain 

 being chosen for the purpose. The field is hoed into 

 rectangular hollows, with small raised hillocks between 

 each. The young plants are then drawn from their 

 native bed, and brought in baskets to the field, one 

 being laid on the top of each mound of earth. The 



