Drugs dnd Medicinal Plants, 



20 



C July, 1909. 



and sold at an average price of Is. lid. 

 per lb. or 5d. per lb. in excess of the pre- 

 vious year's crop. Of these experiments 

 failure took place in two cases, those 

 of Riverdsale and Mossel Bay Districts. 

 In both these places the crop at the 

 outset grew luxuriantly, but when com- 

 iug into maturity during the months of 

 January and February, these localities 

 were visited by heavy mists which 

 damped the tobacco leaves and caused 

 mildew. On this account the experi- 

 ments had to be abandoned. 



In addition to the foregoiug, fourteen 

 private farms were again selected for 

 experiments during 1908, and there is 

 now under cultivation nearly seventy 

 acres, which, it was estimated, would 

 yield 35,000 lbs. of tobacco, but owing 

 to severe drought and the presence of 

 cut worms, it is feared that this figure 

 will not be realised. Great improve- 

 ment has been made in curing, as a 

 result of which a fairly good quality 

 of tobacco is confidently expected. 



The labour involved, while not ardu- 

 ous, requires some skill and, above all, 

 constant attention to detail. In curing 

 the services of women, girls and boys 

 can be used with advantage, as the cost 

 is not so great as when the ordinary 

 labourer is employed. 



The proper sorting and grading of the 

 leaf is imperative, as a slight difference 

 in the quality seriously affects the value, 

 especially where moth-eaten and diseased 

 leaves are threaded with good ones. 

 Skilled supervision is therefore essential 

 and in the end justifies itself by greater 

 profit. 



It is somewhat difficult to adequately 

 describe the appearance of the leaf at 

 its various stages, or to explain how 

 skill in the handling of the leaf can be 

 attained. The only practical means of 

 instruction is by ocular demonstration, 

 the value of which will be apparent to 

 all, especially growers themselves. 



Preparation of the Land- — Iu the 

 Western Province, where the annual 

 rainfall can be depended upon, virgin 

 soils must be ploughed and allowed to 

 lie at least one year before being used. 

 In April, or after the first rain, the laud 

 must be reploughed to a depth of 8 

 inches. Three ploughings, which are 

 practised in Turkey, are recommended, 

 and the soil must be brought into a 

 fine tilth and deeply stirred. During 

 June the ground must be manured, and 

 the manure ploughed iu, and at the end 

 of August it must be reploughed and 

 harrowed, or better still, rolled. 



Manuring of Land. — Thus far past 

 experience shews that Karoo or sheep 

 ana goat manure, at the rate of u tons 



per acre, answers best, but experiments 

 are being carried out with artificial 

 manures, and it will be seen whether 

 they are suitable for the purpose and 

 which gives the best result. 



Seasons.— For the past two seasons the 

 seed was sown from the end of May 

 to the first week in August, and it has 

 been found that the best time for Dis- 

 tricts such as French Hoek, Drakenstein, 

 Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch, Cale- 

 don and Cape is at the beginning of 

 July, provided the seed beds are well 

 prepared and covered with muslin. By 

 these means plants have been raised this 

 season fit for transplanting within fifty - 

 four days, whereas in some cases where 

 the seed beds were prepared and sown 

 at the end of May, the plants were not 

 ready before the middle and end of Sep- 

 tember. 



The Seed Beds. — The best way of mak- 

 ing the seed bed is to select a warm, 

 sheltered spot with soil not liable to 

 dry out and perferably with a northerly 

 or easterly aspect. The ground should 

 be trenched, unless it already happens 

 to be a piece of watered garden soil. 

 Mark out beds 3 feet wide and any 

 length, separated by paths a foot in 

 width. Remove the soil to a depth of 10 

 inches, and lay at the bottom 4 inches of 

 pure hot manure, which must be tramped 

 down well, then fill in the trench with a 

 porportion of one-third soil to two-thirds 

 of old rotted manure, well mixed to- 

 gether. A very fine seed bed is then 

 prepared with the rake, after which 

 it must be thoroughly wetted and 

 the seed sown on the wet ground 

 very thinly at the rate of about one 

 ounce to sixty square yards of seed bed. 

 To do this, the seed is well mixed with 

 sand or ashes, about \ oz. of seed to 

 a soup-plate of sand, and sown half in 

 one direction and half in another, to 

 secure uniform distribution. The seed 

 is covered by riddling over it a quarter 

 of an inch or less of sand or a mixture 

 of old manure— sifted — and sand. To 

 protect the plants from insect pests, 

 weeds, etc., the proposed seed beds 

 should be burnt by making a fire of 

 branches or rubbish on top of them 

 till the soil is scorched to a depths of 3 

 inches ; the resulting ashes must be 

 mixed with the soil previous to sowing 

 the seed- The sprouting plants must 

 be protected from frost and wind. This 

 is best done by surrounding the beds 

 with planks and covering them with 

 muslin or butter cloth. 



Treatment in Seed Beds.— The beds are 

 Kept moist until the seeds sprout, which 

 may take from ten to fifteen days ac- 

 cording to the weather. The beds are 

 then watered every day, before sunrise, 



