140 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



to the rod. The ground is then rolled or trod- 

 den hard. This is preferable to raking the seed 

 in, as when it is buried, even with a rake only, 

 much of it does not come up. Mr. L. would 

 prefer burning brush on the ground before sow- 

 ing the seed, if the material could be conve- 

 niently procured, as the heat destroys most of 

 the seeds of weeds that are near the surface, 

 and the ground is left clean for the tobacco. 

 The transplanting is done from the 25th of 

 June to the 4th of July. The plants are set 

 in a warm, deep, mellow soil, in rows three feet 

 and four inches apart, and at intervals of two 

 and a half feet in the rows. Vacancies that 

 occur from the dealh of the plants, are imme- 

 diately filled. The plants are attacked by the 

 ordinary cut-worm, the best security against 

 which is to have the plants large and thrifty 

 at the time of setting. The ground is kept 

 clean and light by the use of the hoe and the 

 cultivator — the latter being usually passed be- 

 tween the rows four times, the two first in con- 

 nection with the hoe, which is not, commonly, 

 required afterwards. 



The tobacco worm is the most formidable 

 enemy to the crop. It attacks it about the 

 time of the second hoeing, and it is necessary 

 to look the plants over, carefully, and kill the 

 worms, two or three times a week till the crop 

 is cut. The plants are left to grow till they 

 are as much as possible into blossom without 

 forming seed. The tops of all plants which 

 are in a proper state, are then broken down to 

 a good sized leaf. In two to three weeks after 

 this operation, it is ready to cut. Before it is 

 cut, all suckers are broken off. It is cut in a 

 fair day, and allowed to wilt to such a degree 

 that it can be handled, but not so as to burn 

 by the sun, which would injure it as much as 

 a frost. It is sometimes cut in the afternoon 

 and left on the ground till the dew is off next 

 morning. It is then taken up and hung im- 

 mediately in the drying-sheds, which (Mr. L.'s) 

 are made in bents of twelve feet square and 

 five feet one above another. Each bent has 

 from seven to eight poles, on which the tobacco 

 is hung — two stalks being attached by twine 

 across the poles — thirteen pair to each pole. 

 The builing is made with doors all round the 

 sides, so that the admission of air can be nicely 

 regulated. 



The time which the tobacco is allowed to 

 hang, depends on the weather — it must not be 

 taken down till it is perfectly cured, which can 

 readily be told by a practiced eye. It should 

 be taken down in a damp day, the leaves stripped 

 from the stalks, sorted into two kinds — wrap- 

 pers and fillers — the tobacco being wholly used 

 for cigars. The leaves are tied in "hands" of 



three-quarters of a pound each. It is then 

 ready for sale. The article is well known in 

 the New York market under the name of Con- 

 necticut seed-leaf tobacco, and it brings a higher 

 price than any other grown in this country. 



The average yield usually obtained to the 

 acre, is about 1600 pounds. Mr. Lathrop fre- 

 quently obtains a ton to the acre. It brings 

 at home from $8 to $16 a hundred. Mr. L.'s 

 crop for the last two years, has averaged a re- 

 turn of $280 per acre. 



This tobacco is not used till it is a year old. 

 It goes through a " box sweat" in the following 

 March after it has been packed. Some of it 

 is used for the home manufacture of cigars, 

 and some is exported. Most of it is sent to 

 Germany; some goes to Cuba, where it is made 

 into " Spanish" cigars and sent back and sold 

 to the American smokers. 



As to the comparative cost of the crop, Mr. 

 Lathrop thinks it is about as much expense to 

 raise tobacco at the rate of 2000 lbs. to the 

 acre, as to raise corn at the rate of 501)ushels 

 to the acre. He would not advise going into 

 the business on a large scale, without some per- 

 son acquainted with the details of management. 



Contrary to what is experienced under the 

 culture of tobacco in Maryland, Virginia, and 

 other States, it is not, in the Connecticut val- 

 ley, an exhausting crop. Mr. Lathrop's mode 

 of preparing the ground, is to put on ten cords 

 of ordinary barn manure to the acre. The pre- 

 vious crop may have been either clover or corn 

 or potatoes. Tobacco is usually continued three 

 years on the same ground, but for the last two 

 years only six cords of manure to the acre are 

 used each year. Under this course, the soil is 

 greatly improved. It is generally admirably 

 fitted for wheat, except that it is sometimes 

 made too rich. It leaves the soil remarkably 

 clean from weeds. The tobacco stalks, after 

 the leaves have been picked off, are spread in 

 the fall over winter grain, for which they are 

 an excellent manure. 



Cheap, temporary structures are often used 

 for drying tobacco. But Mr. Lathrop's build- 

 ing is 72 feet long and 36 wide, with posts 

 15 feet high, and holds about three tons. Ik 

 is well finished, and cost a little over $500. 



To Make Good Starch for Bosoms and Col- 

 lars. — Take one tea-spoonful of starch for every 

 shirt, dissolve in cold water and set it over the fire 

 to boil, stirring carefully all the time to prevent 

 burning; let it boil gently fifteen minutes, then 

 take it from the fire and strain through a piece of 

 muslin, and to every four shirts allow a piece of 

 sperm as large as a common sized pea, and the 

 same quantity of white wax ; boil these in the starch 

 fifteen minutes; dip the articles into the starch 



