November, 1908.J 



439 



Edible Products. 



Preparation of Seed Beds and 

 Raising Plants. 



Lime plants are usually raised in nur- 

 series until they are about 16-18 inches 

 high, when they are suitable for plant- 

 ing out in the field. It takes from ten 

 to twelve mouths from the sowing of 

 the seeds to the time when strong plants 

 are tit for putting out. Sometimes, 

 seeds are planted at stake iu the fields, 

 but this is not generally to be recom- 

 mended. 



Seed beds should be made in a 

 sheltered corner of land after the 

 soil has been thoroughly tilled. Beds 

 from 4 to 5 feet wide should be made, 

 and there should be paths from 2 to 

 3 feet wide between the beds. The soil 

 from the paths should be thrown upon 

 the seed beds, thus raising them and 

 insuring good draiuage. 



Nursery beds are prepared in a similar 

 manner and are usually of the same 

 width as the seed beds- The soil of the 

 nursery beds, as in the case of seed 

 beds, should be thoroughly broken up. 

 This ensures that the seedliugs develop a 

 good root system. When the beds are 

 badly prepared, the plants possess a 

 very poor root system, and such 

 plants cannot be lifted and transplant- 

 ed in the field without a heavy per- 

 centage of loss, whilst even those that 

 survive receive a great check. 



A quantity of seed, selected for sow- 

 ing, should be placed in a fine sieve and 

 kept stirred by hand while water is 

 poured over it to remove the mucilage 

 enveloping the seeds. The seeds are 

 then dried in the shade, and as soon as 

 they are dry enough for handling they 

 should be sown, for lime seeds do not 

 retain their vitality very long. 



When lime seeds are sown unwashed, 

 rats very often dig them out and des- 

 troy them, whereas it they are carefully 

 washed and dried, rats but seldom 

 interfere with them. 



Lime seeds are usually sown in drills 

 about 8-9 inches apart running across the 

 seed beds. Two men are generally en- 

 gaged in sowing, one on each side of 

 the bed. The drill is marked by press- 

 ing on the soil lengthways with a broom 

 handle- The drill is opened by the 

 fingers, and the seed is sown thinly 

 about an inch deep. A seed bed 5 

 feet wide and 100 feet long, with drills 

 8 or 9 inches apart, should give from 

 5,000 to 0,000 strong seedlings. 



When the seedlings are from 4 to 

 6 inches high they are ready for trans- 

 planting into the nursery beds. The 

 plants are carefully lifted with forks, 



the rootlets trimmed, and the stems top- 

 ped. The roots of the seedlings are 

 kept wetted and covered with damp 

 baling during the time they are out 

 of the ground. The seedlings are then 

 taken to the nursery beds, which should 

 have been previously well prepared 

 and levelled. 



The tools necessary for transplanting 

 work are : — Two garden trowels, a short 

 line to keep the rows straight, two 

 pieces of stick 8 or 9 inches long for 

 measuring the distances between the 

 rows, and a short piece of board to pre- 

 vent the men from placing their feet on 

 the soil of the bed. 



The board is placed on the bed and 

 the two men working together have 

 one foot in either path and one foot on 

 the board. The seedlings are placed 

 out in rows 8 or 9 inches apart, 

 with the same distance from plant to 

 plant in the rows. Bach row in a bed 

 5 feet wide will coutaiu seven plants. 



Two good workmen who have had 

 some practice at this work can trans- 

 plant, on easily worked soil, 2,000 seed- 

 lings a day. A nursery bed 5 feet 

 wide and 100 feet long should give 1,000 

 strong plants for planting in the field, 

 after allowing 15 per cent, for wastage 

 and for backward plants. 



The lime is an extremely hardy plant 

 and needs no protection from the sun 

 at any stage of its growth. In the 

 nursery, however, the young plants 

 should receive careful treatment in 

 order to produce vigorous plants pos- 

 sessing a good root system, capable of 

 being transplanted to the field without 

 loss, and with the least possible check 

 to growth. 



(To be continued.) 



PROPAGATION OF TOBACCO 

 IN CUBA. 

 By C. F. Baker. 



I. Seed. 



A. — Seed Selection. 



Good seed is one of the most impor- 

 tant items in tobacco culture. It is 

 perfectly true that poor seed — seed 

 taken from secondary sprouts on all 

 kinds of plants, good, bad, and in- 

 different, seed cut before it is ripe, and 

 large and small seed together — may all 

 be planted, and then, with sufficient 

 outlay in fertilizers, water, and care, 

 fairly good tobacco may yet be made. 

 But it is not a good business proposition 

 when, if the bast seed and rightly 



