24 BULLETIN 16, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
When transplanting, so far as possible use only good, strong plants 
of uniform size. The plants should be kept straight and the roots 
well mulched and protected from the drying wind and sun in order to 
retain their vitality as much as possible, which will help materially 
in insuring a good start in growing. In the flue-cured districts the 
greater portion of the crop is transplanted by hand in a natural 
season, using a peg for making holes and pressing the earth to the 
roots. But more or less setting with water in times of drought is 
resorted to almost every year in some sections. For this purpose a 
special hand planter is often used. This is an effective and inex- 
pensive implement. It has the merit of putting the water imme- 
Fie. 5.—A 2-horse machine transplanter at work. A machine of this kind may be 
Seen here and there in the flue-cured tobacco district, particularly in the New 
Belt section, 
diately around the roots where needed, and it is thought that the 
plants grow better than when set and hand watered with dippers. 
The 2-horse machine setter is in use to a limited extent in some neigh- 
borhoods, but, of course, is adapted only to smooth fields and soft 
land. A view of one of these machine setters at work in Snow 
County, N. C., is shown in figure 5. The expense of machine setting 
is about the same as for hand setting, but there is the advantage of 
being able to go ahead with the setting when the plants are right, 
independently of the weather. The water is put at the roots and the 
plants live as well or better than hand-set plants. 
In from three to five days after the field is set out it should be 
gone over again and carefully replanted with the best plants avail- 
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