jtrliY, 1909.] 21 Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



with a watering can having a fine hose, 

 held low so as not to wash the plants 

 out of the ground. When the plants 

 stand about \ inch high, either a little 

 guano water, say about one handful of 

 guano to every three gallons of water, 

 or fine sifted old manure, should be 

 given at least once a week, the remain- 

 ing days pure water. Should sifted 

 manure be applied, it must be watered 

 at once so as to prevent any damage to 

 the foliage by burning. After the plants 

 are well grown, the covering must be 

 removed at least a fortnight before 

 planting, and watering must cease one 

 week before planting so that the plants 

 may be hardened for their change. 



The rate of growth during the first 

 month is very slow, but thereafter at 

 the rate of about \\ inches per week. A 

 common fault is to sow the seed too 

 thickly. If the plants are dense, it is 

 imperative that they be thinned out — 

 but not before they stand an inch high 

 —otherwise the plants grow thin and 

 lanky and about 25 per cent, to 30 per 

 cent, die off in transplanting. The most 

 important branch in tobacco culture is 

 the raising of good and healthy plants 

 without which a good crop of tobacco 

 need not be expected. 



Planting Out— It is customary in Tur- 

 key, when the plants attain a height of 

 5 inches above the level of the bed 

 and after watering has ceased for a 

 week, to test a plant by twisting it 

 round the finger, and should it not be 

 brittle, the plant is considered fit for 

 transplanting, but if it shows signs of 

 being brittle it must be watered again, 

 after which it must remain a few days 

 without water. When the plants are 

 fit for transplanting, they may be 

 watered the previous evening, so as to 

 facilitate the pulling the following 

 morning. The plants are conveyed in 

 fiat boxes or baskets to the field, great 

 care being taken to prevent the roots 

 from drying in transit. It is better 

 to transplant on cloudy days, other- 

 wise the best time is late in the after- 

 noon. As regards distance, it is found 

 best to have the rows 3 feet apart and 

 the plant 8 or 9 inches in the rows, 

 which rows should run in the direction 

 of the prevailing winds. This distance 

 apart has the advantage of permitting 

 cultivation with horse hoe, free circu- 

 lation of the air, and it also produces 

 straight stems, with a large number 

 of leaves of small but equal size. 



The time recommended for planting is 

 during the month of September, and 

 the process, if possible, should be com- 

 pleted within a fortnight, care being 

 taken that all Y>lants subsequently des- 

 troyed by cut-worms be immediately 



replaced, otherwise au uneven crop will 

 ensue, causing great inconvenience and 

 involving extra labour in packing, 

 sorting and grading the leaf- Every- 

 thing possible must be done to raise 

 a uniform crop, as the expense and 

 work afterwards is thereby consider- 

 ably minimised and facilitated. It is 

 impossible to conduct curing operations 

 satisfactorily with irregular crops. 

 As before stated, after the first water- 

 ing given when transplanting, no further 

 irrigation is necessary in localities 

 having a dependable annual rainfall. 

 The actual planting may be done with 

 a dibble, just as cabbages and the like 

 are put in. Backward, worm-eaten and 

 weak drawn-up plants are to be re- 

 jected. 



Treatment during Growth. — A fort- 

 night after planting, hoeing by hand 

 is necessary, and when the plants are 

 well established and the rows dis- 

 cernible, the horse hoe may be passed 

 through to keep down weeds and main- 

 tain a surface mulch. Cease cultivating 

 as soon as priming, viz., the removal 

 of lower waste leaves, is completed- 



As the tobacco is liable to suffer from 

 the attack of surface caterpillars (cut- 

 worms), etc., trapping with poison 

 should be resorted to as a remedy. The 

 poison may consist of cabbage leaves, 

 lucerne or green barley steeped in 

 arsenite of soda, and scattered over the 

 land towards evening a few days pre- 

 vious to planting. 



Mildew is another cause of damage 

 to tobacco, mainly due to climatic in- 

 fluences, but it may be checked some- 

 what by avoiding damp sheltered and 

 close situations and by allowing free 

 circulation of the air. In the event of 

 mildew, it is advisable to remove the 

 diseased leaves from the field and des- 

 troy them, particular attention being 

 paid that no such leaves are threaded 

 with good ones, as such a procedure 

 would ruin the quality of the tobacco. 



Tobacco planted early in the season 

 in wide rows running in the direction of 

 the prevailing winds, is not so liable 

 to mildew. 



If the seed is sown at the right time, 

 and the flower heads are left undisturb- 

 ed, very little trouble will be caused by 

 suckers, but if planted out of season and 

 in damp places, these grow vigorously, 

 and reduce the strength of the tobacco 

 very materially. All suckers should be 

 nipped out when between 1 and 2 inches 

 long. 



The flowers are on no account to 

 be removed as is done with ordinary 

 tobacco. 



