Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



24 



[July, 1909. 



weather, when the leaves are supple and 

 elastic in the stack. If the weather is 

 fine and the material dry and crisp, then 

 two days before pressing, the rods are to 

 be lifted one by one and sprayed very 

 finely with water on one side only and 

 re-stacked and covered. The leaf then 

 becomes soft and pliant, but if too much 

 water is used fermentation will take 

 place and the leaf become mouldy, and 

 it will thus be seen that great care must 

 be taken in carrying out this simple but 

 dangerous process. It may here be 

 observed that some growers last season, 

 not having any experience in curing 

 tobacco, or any one to show them, were 

 very unsuccessful in their efforts, and as 

 a result obtained poor prices for their 

 tobacco, or as much of it as could be 

 sold, the majority of these crops remain- 

 ing unsold owing to the manner in 

 which the tobacco was cured and the 

 excessive amount of water added to the 

 leaf before pressing, causing fermenta- 

 tion and mouldiness in the leaf. 



When the tobacco is in a fit condition, 

 the strings are cut from the supporting 

 rod and divided into lengths corre- 

 sponding to the size of the bale. The 

 tobacco is packed in layers, the butts all 

 turned outwards and the tips towards 

 the centre. When half full, the lid is 

 put on and the pressure applied for a 

 quarter of an hour, after which the box 

 is filled, and for three or four hours the 

 pressure is repeatedly applied, the sides 

 of the box being open occasionally to 

 inspect progress. The usual weight of a 

 bale is 80 lbs. Ultimately the bale is 

 removed and sewn up in canvas, with 

 the ends showing the butts of the leaves 

 left open, at these ends the canvas is 

 laced together criss-cross like a widely 

 laced boot. 



In this condition the leaf is stored and 

 improves much with age, tobacco 



coming out of the bale a year or several 

 years old, being very much superior to 

 the new unmatured article. 



In Turkey, while maturing, the bales 

 are turned every day, much as is the 

 custom with ripening cheeses. 



Accessories Required per Acre (ap- 

 proximate). 



(1) Six needles, 14 inches long by about 

 \ inch broad, flat and smooth with 

 sharp points, and dull edges, pro- 

 vided with an eye, and made of 

 good steel. Obtained at Messrs. J. 

 H. and E. Youle, Long-street, 

 Cape Town, 



(2) Six baskets or boxes. 



(3) One " Abol" syringe for entire crop. 



(4) Five hundred rods, 8 feet long. 

 These may be light Avooden spars, 

 bamboo or stout reed, and must 

 be of uniform length, that given, 

 i.e., about 7 feet, being approxi- 

 mately a convenient length. 



(5) A. supply of canvas sheeting, bags 

 or other material for protecting 

 the tobacco from dew. 



(6) A trellis. A simple arrangement 

 consisting of two parallel wires 

 about 7 feet apart, supported at 

 intervals or short stakes to pre- 

 vent sagging, and carried along 

 about 2 feet aboveground and made 

 fast at each end. The trellis 

 wires should run across the 

 direction of prevailing wind. A 

 separate set should be provided for 

 each quality of tobacco. The 

 site of the trellis should be some 

 convenient sheltered and sunny 

 spot, preferably in a grass camp, 

 but protected from wind and the 

 prying attention of livestock and 

 fowls. 



(7) A supply of butter cloth for cover- 

 ing the seed beds. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



THE FERTILIZATION OF RICE. 



(From the Louisiana Planter and 

 Sugar Manufacturer, XLIL, No. 5, 

 January 30, 1909.) 



Rice beiug an aquatic plant, it has 

 been a debatable question as to just 

 how to secure the best crops of it. In 

 Louisiana it has become the general con- 

 clusion that almost any i^ugar plantation 

 can be utilized successfully for two or 

 three years in rice culture, and the more 

 successfully because of the fact of the 

 land having been in cane culture, This 



can hardly be because there is any im- 

 provement in the soil because of cane 

 culture, other than the fact that cane 

 culture, being a very intense culture, 

 leads practically to the extirpation of 

 all of those grasses which become so 

 annoying in rice culture and have it yet 

 to learn. On the other hand, we know 

 from actual experience that lands that 

 have been planted in cowpeas, the 

 cowpeas ploughed under and the lands 

 thus intended for sugar cane subse- 

 quently diverted to rice culture, have 

 produced crops of rice almost unheard 

 of in quantity, and in fact to the exten 



