4 



blacken. The plants selected for seed should be left uncut and should not of course be * f topped," and 

 all suckers plucked off. The seedpods on their stalks should be thoroughly dried and then hung up in 

 bundles for some length of time. It is preferable to rub out the seeds of the pods, winnow and put 

 into well-covered demijohns, jars, or glass bottles. The seeds sown the first year ought to b3 imported 

 directly from Havana as the only means of securing the Cuban kind of Tobacco. Frequent supplies of 

 seeds should be regularly supplied as it is apt to deteriorate if grown too long in one district. 



Method of Sowing the Seeds. 

 Care must be observed in sowing the seeds that they are evenly scattered on the soil, for if they be 

 thickly sown the young plants will spring up too closely and will be so delicate and tender that they will 

 not stand transplanting. To s-ecure the seeds being evenly scattered they should be mixed with dry 

 fine earth or sand. If when the seed is sown it does not rain the soil must be moistened with a fine- 

 rosed watering-pot, raising the hand as high as possible so that the water may bury the seeds, being 

 careful at the same time that the water does not wash away or throw the seeds together. The seed 

 should be sown a month and a half before the seedlings ate required for planting, for at the end of this 

 time they should be fit for transplanting. The proper sowing season is from the mid lie of August up to 

 the beginning of October, on such a day as it is likely to rain. Should it not rain the soil must be 

 watered as before explained. 



Cake of the Nursery. 



When the leaves of the seedlings are about the size of a sixpenny piece or a shilling piece, the com 

 and branches of the trees left must gradually be cut away so that the young plant may become gradually 

 accustomed to the heat of the sun, preventing by this me ms the risk of their perishing when transplanted. 



The Nursery must be frequently weeded to prevent exhaustion of the soil and weakening the seed- 

 lings. The weeds must be rooted up with the hands, being careful not to injure the seedlings. When- 

 ever the Nursery is weeded or seedlings have been removed for transplantation fresh seeds should be 

 sown in order to always have a supply of seedlings. According as the shade is taken away the supply of 

 water to the seedling should be, in like manner, diminished. If insects be noticed in the Nursery it 

 should be slightly watered with lime water, sufficiently diluted so as not to burn the seedlings 

 end the larger grubs destroyed every morning by hand. The seedlings, to be fit lor transplanting must 

 have six leaves, and these leaves of the size of a half dollar piece lief ore rooting up the seedlings for trans- 

 planting, if no rain occurs, the ground should be properly wetted to facilitate their extraction with all 

 their roofs. They should be slightly shaken to remove some of the earth attached to their roots. In 

 taking out seedlings for transplanting the fingers should be carefully put down to the root in order to 

 avoid breaking the stalk. 



CHAPTER III. 



PLANTING AND PREPARATION OF THE LAND FOR PLANTING. 



The proper month for planting is September, but if inundation of the land be expected, planting 

 should commence in November. 



We have noticed in various works on Tobacco Culture that artificial manures are highly recommend- 

 ed. We believe that by this means the Tobacco can be made to yield larger leaves, according to the 

 quality of the artificial manure, but it can never be obtained possessing the aroma and other qualities es- 

 sential to Smoking Tobacco. The only application admissible is that of lime, which should only br 

 used when the soil is very much exhausted. In the Island of Cuba, the Smoking Tobacco produced is 

 doubtless without a rival in the world, and there manuring with artificial manures is never practised as 

 the 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 pre- 

 paring the soil for planting is the following, which is that employed in Cuba, the manure used beinc purely 

 vegetable, with the exception indicated, viz., lime. 1 



No other animals but hogs should be allowed to feed on the land intended for planting from the 

 month of May. Weeds and shrubs are allowed to grow freely till July, when it is ploughed leno-thwise 

 and crosswise with all the bush. Fifteen or twenty days after, about which time the weeds, etc° ou«-ht 

 to be thoroughly 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 montti 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 email trees which have not rotted should be picked up and thrown away and the land raked if not wet. 

 It is convenient to have hogs feeding on tha land during this time, as they help to mix up the soil. It is 

 unnecessary 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 lo"- 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 bstween 

 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 alonsr the furrows at a distance of eighteen inches from each other. 

 Planting should be commenced not earlier than three o'cloc:k in the afternoon on sunny days, but on 

 a cloudy light ehowcry day, planting may be canied on the whole day. Planting may also be bs^un 

 before daybreak, so that the planting be finished by eight o'clock in the morning. The seedlino- is held 



