24 ARIETIES OF TOBACCO SEED DISTRIBUTED IN 1905-6. 



in any portion of the seed bed. they should be thinned out by using 

 an ordinary garden rake and pulling it through the thickly set plants. 

 Sufficient plants will be removed in this wa} T , and those which remain 

 will not be injured by the thinning process, but will be benefited by 

 the stirring of the surface soil. It is also necessaiy to keep out all 

 weeds, carefully pulling them as soon as they appear among the tobacco 

 plants. Before pulling the weeds, the beds should be thoroughly 

 watered. If flea-beetles or other biting insects attack the young 

 plants in the seed bed, the plants should be sprayed with a Paris green 

 mixture at the rate of 1 pound of Paris green and an equal quantity of 

 quicklime to 100 gallons of water. If fungous diseases begin to grow 

 in any portion of the seed bed, it should be thoroughly aired by rais- 

 ing the sash during the day, and if this method does not check the 

 growth of the fungus the beds should be sprayed with a solution of 

 formalin — 1 part of formalin to 2,000 parts of water. An application 

 of lime dusted over the beds will also assist in preventing the spread of 

 fungous diseases. 



The preparation of the field for the plants should be begun in the 

 autumn, if possible, by "plowing the land 2 or 3 inches deep and sowing 

 a cover crop, such as vetch or some other legume. These leguminous 

 cover crops not only prevent washing and loss of fertility during the 

 heav} r rains of the fall and winter, but increase the fertility of the soil 

 through the addition of the nitrogen in the tubercles of these plants 

 and by reason of their extensive 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 thorough^ plowed under, with an application of 

 well-rotted stable manure at the rate of 12 to 15 tons to the acre. 



In addition to the use of stable manure, it has been found that the 

 following or a similar fertilizer should be used in order to secure the 

 best results: One ton of cotton-seed meal, 200 pounds of carbonate of 

 potash, 500 pounds of starter, and 1 barrel of lime to the acre. This 

 commercial fertilizer should be sowed on the land after plowing and 

 worked into the soil with a disk or by some other means of thorough 

 stirring before tKe young plants are transplanted into the field. When 

 the young plants are pulled from the seed beds the bed should be 

 thoroughly wet down before pulling, in order that as little injury to 

 the plants as possible may be inflicted during the process of pulling. 

 The plants are usually set out with a tobacco setter, such as is shown 

 in Plate III, figure 1. If possible, it is desirable to transplant after a 

 shower or during a moist spell of weather, as the hot sun on the young 

 plants in the fields is likely to cause considerable injury. Immediately 

 after transplanting, the young plants should be dusted with a bran 

 mash and Paris green mixture made b}^ mixing thoroughly 1 pound of 

 Paris green with 100 pounds of bran. This mixture can be applied to 



