210 Upon the Cultivation of Tobacco, for Garden purposes, 



planted out in the middle of May, at three feet apart in rich ground ; 

 they were shaded with flower-pots, and occasionally watered till 

 they had taken root, and began to grow. No more attention was 

 bestowed, except keeping the ground clean, until their lateral shoots 

 began to show themselves, which were constantly kept pinched off 

 as they appeared ; these, if suffered to remain, would have had the 

 effect of very much reducing the supply of sap from the useful 

 leaves of the plants; they were topped at sixteen or eighteen 

 leaves, according to their strength. The Tobacco was ripe in the 

 beginning of September, as was indicated by the leaves becoming 

 mottled with yellow spots, those at the bottom, more so than at 

 the top of the plant; they were also more glossy and shining 

 than before. 



The Mushroom house, being at this time disengaged, was thought 

 an eligible place for the curing process ; the plants were taken up 

 quite dry, with a few of their roots ; but no particular attention was 

 paid to saving many of the latter, as the object was only to avoid 

 breaking the bottom-leaves, (which might have been the case by 

 cutting the stems); the plants were carried immediately to the house, 

 and hung on nails in the walls, and on ropes in the middle of it. When 

 all had been brought into the house, it was shut up quite close, the 

 fire lighted and the temperature kept to 70 degrees, until the leaves 

 got completely yellow, which they did in four or five days. The 

 heat was then raised to 75°, and in about a week, the leaves, with the 

 exception of the mid-ribs, were cured, and of a fiiie brown colour. 

 The heat was then increased to between 80 and 90 degrees, and in 

 five days the mid-ribs were so completely killed that the thick 

 ends of them would have broken immediately on attempting to 

 bend them : the leaves were now very much curled, and dry as 

 fire could make them, and if subjected to any pressure, would have 

 crumbled to snuff. Fire was discontinued, and the floor of the 

 house well watered; this was repeated as it evaporated, and in 



