CULTURE 
The various types of tobacco are grown in certain well-defined localities 
where the soil and climate have been found to yield a product of the proper- 
ties desired for manufacture or for export. In addition to the factors of soil 
and climate, the methods of growing and handling are also determined by the 
kind of leaf that is required by the trade. 
Seeding. Tobacco seedlings are grown in hotbeds or coldframes, called 
seedbeds, which are covered with glass in colder regions, and with cloth in 
warmer areas (fig. 8). The seeds are so tiny that one ounce contains about 300 
to 350 thousand seeds. A pint of cleaned seed weighs only about 10 ounces; a 
bushel weighs about 39 pounds. A tablespoonful is enough to sow 100 square 
yards of seedbed, and will furnish enough plants to set 3 to 4 acres in the 
field. Actually, many growers sow about 100 square yards for each acre in the 
field, and while this practice produces considerably more plants than are 
required, it assures them an ample supply of seedlings at transplanting time. 
Figure 8.--Flue-cured seed bed. 
In sowing the seed, it is mixed with a large volume of fertilizer, corn 
or cottonseed meal, or other substance, such as sifted ashes (about 1 bushel 
for each ounce of seed), in order to obtain an even distribution. Germination 
begins when the temperature gets around 65°, and the plants are ready for 
transplanting to the fields when they have developed 4 to 6 leaves and are 6 
to 8 inches high. 
