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experience of the Vuelta-abajo planters a few years since proves clearly 

 the disadvantages attending such usage. It should be remarked that 

 the manure used was Peruvian Guano. The crop obtained during that 

 short period suffered greatly in its quantity and quality, so much so that 

 the planters of Vuelta-abajo have given up altogether manuring with 

 such foreign matters. The best method of preparing the soil for planting 

 is the following, which is that employed in Cuba, the manure used being 

 purely vegetable, with the exception indicated, viz., lime. 



No other animals but hogs should be allowed to feed on the land in- 

 tended for planting from the month of May. Weeds and shrubs are 

 allowed to grow freely till July, when it is ploughed lengthwise and 

 crosswise with all the bush, Fifteen or twenty days after, about which 

 time the weeds, etc., ought to be thorougly rotten, the land should be 

 frequently ploughed, with a few days interval between each ploughing, if 

 the soil be not too wet, so that by the month of September it shall have 

 been ploughed about eight or ten times, and the whole of the 

 vegetable rubbish be perfectly rotten. All the sticks, roots of small 

 trees which have net rotted should be picked up anrl thrown away and 

 the land raked if not wet. It is convenient to have hogs feeding on the 

 land during this time, as they help to mix up the soil. It is unneces- 

 sary to say that when about to begin planting they should be kept out 

 of the field, for they would destroy the Tobacco plants. When there is 

 no fear of floods, and planting time has arrived, if there be any weeds 

 growing on the land, it should be ploughed, attaching this time to the 

 plough a log, about four feet in length, in such a manner as to break up 

 the lumps of earth and at the same time collect the rubbish. 



To Plant. — The land is ploughed in a direction from North to 

 South, leaving at least a yard between each furrow, but if the soil be 

 very fertile four feet should . be left. The seedlings, after being up- 

 rooted as before mentioned, are distributed along the furrows at a dis- 

 tance of eighteen inches from each other. Planting should be com- 

 menced not earlier than three o'clock in the afternoon on sunny days, 

 but on a cloudy light showery day, planting may be* carried on the 

 whole day. Planting may also be begun before daybreak, so that the 

 planting be finished by eight o'clock in the morning. The seedling is 

 held with the left hand and the earth taken out of the hole with the 

 right, and placing the seedling into the hole, throw some earth on the 

 roots and slightly press it down, being very careful not to injure the 

 tender stem of the seedling, and then fill up the hole with the loose soil. 

 The depth at which the seedlings should be placed in the holes depends 

 on its size, for which reason no exact rule can be given, but generally 

 speaking, in ordinary size seedling the root and a small portion of the 

 stem only should be buried. Tall seedlings can be placed a few inches 

 deeper, according to the size, but in no case should any seed- 

 lings be buried so deeply that the lower leaves touch the 

 earth. One should also be careful not to allow any earth to fall 

 on the top of the young plant. Wet weather is most suitable for 

 planting, and if the soil be very wet, the seedlings should be planted 

 lightly, that is avoiding all pressure on their roots. If the planting be 

 done in furrows, the seedlings should be placed on that side of the fur- 

 row called by the vegueros " oreja, " which is the side on the west. 



Seedlings from a distance. — When on any account planting has to- 



