50 



Shading. — Immediately after sowing, cut some forked sticks and 

 rig up a skeleton arbour about four or five feet high and lay some long 

 Guinea grass or coco-nut leaves over it, with the stalks pointing to the 

 north ; this will secure the points of the grass or coconut leaves trail- 

 ing over on the southern or sunny side. 



This covering serves two purposes— it protects the germinating 

 seeds from the sun, and breaks the force of the rain during a heavy 

 shower. 



As soon as sufficient seedlings have made their appearance, remove 

 most of the shade from the arbour ; this stops the germination of seeds 

 that can very well wait for a time ; the visible seedlings should now 

 be an inch or so apart. 



When these have begun to develope their third leaf, remove the 

 whole of the shade. 



Weeding. — Pick out all weeds as they appear, as, if allowed to get 

 big before they are pulled out, the tobacco seedlings come out with 

 them. 



Hardening off. — Four weeks after germination the seedlings will 

 begin to pack up together, covering the soil, they should now be gra- 

 dually hardened off by keeping them on the dry side, watering them 

 only when there is danger of the leaves drooping. In seven weeks 

 from sowing they will be ready for planting out. 



Damping. — Sometimes a shower of rain will bruise the young plants ; 

 inducing " damping" in some places ; to prevent the spread of the 

 " damp" fungus, apply a dusting of slaked lime to the affected parts 

 of the bed. 



Summary. — Select a southern aspect for nursery. 



Secure the destruction of caterpillars and a loose uncakable soil by 

 burning. Sow the seeds thinly and evenly. 



Keep them moist and protected from sharp sunlight and heavy rain 

 during germination. 



Remove the shade gradually as soon as sufficient seeds have germi- 

 nated, e.g., an inch apart. 



Keep down weeds and continue the watering until the plants pack 

 up together. Gradually withhold the water to ensure the " suckers" 

 being hard when planted out. 



Look out for damp after a shower of rain. 



Planting. 



Time for planting. — There is a certain short period towards the end 

 of the year at which tobacco plants, whether in the beds or in the field, 

 grow and develope at an exceedingly rapid rate ; namely, from the last 

 week in October to the middle of December ; the success of a crop de- 

 pends very largely on whether the main lot of plants are set out be- 

 fore this period or not ; if not, then the plants will not be fully de- 

 veloped by the time the dry ripening weather comes on. The main 

 point is to make the best possible use of the latter half of the October 

 " Seasons" with a view to growing large plants and leaves that will 

 be ready for the dry weather when it arrives. 



Soil. — The best soil for tobacco is a rich vegetable mould contain- 

 ing just sufficient clay to enable it to hold moisture for a good length 

 of time ; it can be taken as a maxim that the richer the soil is and 



