THE CULTURE OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. 23 
made, on the theory that the wide bed holds the moisture better and 
gives the plant a better start. In most sections, however, the con- 
sensus of opinion seems to be that the 2-furrow bed is just as satis- 
factory. In the light soils of the New Belt the bed is put into final 
shape for planting by dragging down and slightly packing the top 
of the ridge. A cotton planter drawn along the row is frequently 
used for this purpose, the plow in front serving to knock off and 
flatten the ridge while the roller behind compacts it. A plank or 
log drawn by a mule and wide enough to cover two or more rows 
at a time is also a satisfactory device. Figure 4 shows an ingenious 
implement for this purpose devised and used by Mr. B. F, Wilham- 
Fic, 4.—An ingenious form of ridge leveler, for compacting and leveling the beds or 
lists upon which tobacco plants are to be transplanted. 
son, a noted grower in Darlington County, S. C. This device, by 
means of the spool-shaped rollers on the front, rounds off the bed 
so that water can not form pools and drown the plants, and it flattens 
and compacts the bed at the same time. 
_On the rougher soils of the Old Belt section it is more customary 
to go over the field with a hoe, cutting through the bed and making 
a pat at each spot where a plant is to be set. The objects of the bed 
are to get a body of good, soft soil in which to set the plant and to 
provide that surface water during heavy rains may flow away from 
the plant and not stand around it and either cover it with silt or 
drown it outright. But in attaining these objects the less the eleva- 
tion of the plant the better. 
