10 



CULTIVATION OF NEW LAND. 



The main secret is to keep it clean and well stirred. In new land, this may 

 be done by two good workings in the proper time, though a third working will 

 often be very beneficial. If the land is freshly hilled, about two weeks after 

 planting the hills should be scraped down, and a little fresh earth drawn around 

 each plant. About three weeks after this, it should be hilled up, and in ordi- 

 nary cases this will be sufficient, except to keep down the sprouts that may put 

 up. Tobacco ought not to be worked after topping, as it will bruise and break 

 the leaves. Plowing smooth new land once (at the last working) is of service ; 

 but if it is rough and stumpy, keep a plow out of it altogether. 



CULTIVATION OF OLD LAND. 



Old land requires more work than new. As soon as the plants get sufficient 

 hold, narrow up your cultivator, so as not to disturb the roots, and go through 

 it once for the first hoeing. Then cut up the remaining grass and weeds with 

 a hoe, and level the soil around the plants, stirring it slightly. In ten days or 

 a fortnight, go over it again with a plow or cultivator, twice in a row, using a 

 short singletree, to avoid injuring the plants. This time you can stir the ground 

 more freely around the plants, and should hill them slightly in hoeing, being 

 careful not to cover any of the leaves. After this, it is better to perform all the 

 work with hand labor, in order to save the plants from injury. Stir the ground 

 with a hoe as often as necessary to keep down the weeds. 



WORMING. 



If the worms are numerous, the plants should be thoroughly examined at 

 least twice a week. Destroy not only the worms, but all the eggs that can be 

 found; or, what is still better, seek out and destroy the flies which deposit 

 these eggs. These flies are gray in color, with yellow spots on each side of 

 the body, and may be found about sunset flitting about the weeds and flowers, 

 extracting their juices by means of their peculiar tongue, which is four or five 

 inches in length. The Jamestown weed, or "Jimson" weed, as it is com- 

 monly called, which bears a white, bell-shaped blossom, is very attractive to 

 these flies. Many of them may be destroyed by dropping a little of the fol- 

 lowing mixture into these blossoms : One ounce of cobalt, dissolved in one pint of 

 water and sweetened with some kind of syrup. But this is equally as fatal to 

 the blossoms as to the flies; therefore we give you the following instructions 

 for making an artificial substitute, which will prove to be more durable than 

 the natural flower, and quite as effective. The ladies can best perform this 

 work, as the}- happily possess more taste and skill in such matters. 



