608 



DRUGS, NATICOTICS, ETC. 



May. They are set at the distance of three or four feet apart, 

 and are hilled, and kept continually free from weeds, "When as 

 many leaves have shot out as the soil will nourish to advantage, 

 the top of the plant is broken off, which of course prevents its 

 growing higher. It is carefully kept clear from worms, and the 

 suckers which put out between the leaves are taken off at proper 

 times, till the plant arrives at perfection, which is in August. 

 When the leaves turn of a brownish color^ and begin to be 

 spotted, the plants are cut down and hung up to dry, after having 

 sweated in heaps one night. AYhen the leaves can be handled 

 without crumbling, which is always in moist weather, they are 

 stripped from the stalks, tied up in bundles, and packed for ex- 

 portation in hogsheads. No suckers nor ground leaves are allowed 

 to be merchantable. An industrious person may manage 6,000 

 plants of tobacco, which will yield 1,000 lbs. of dried leaves, and 

 also four acres of Indian corn. 



Miller, an American author, thus describes the mode of cul- 

 ture : — 



"WTien a regular plantation of tobacco is intended, the beds being prepared 

 and -well turned up with the hoe, the seed, on account of its smallness and to 

 prevent the ravages of ants, is mixed -with ashes and sown upon them, a little 

 aefore the rainy season. The beds are raked, or trampled with the foot, to 

 make the seed take the sooner. The plants appear in two or three weeks. 

 As soon as they have acquired foiu- leaves, the strongest are carefully drawn 

 up and planted in the field by a line, at a distance of about three feet from each 

 other. If no rain fall, they should be watered two or three times. Every 

 morning and evening the plants must be looked over in order to destroy a worm 

 which sometimes invades the bud. When they are about four or five inches 

 high, they are to be cleaned from weeds and moulded up. As soon as they 

 have eight or nine leaves, and are ready to put forth a stalk, the top is nipped 

 off in order to make the leaves longer and thicker. After this the buds which 

 sprout at the joints of the leaves are also plucked off, and not a day is suffered 

 to pass without examining the leaves to destroy the large caterpillar, which is 

 often most destructive to them. When they are fit for cutting, which is known 

 by the brittleness of the leaves, they are cut off with a knife close to the ground, 

 and, after lying some time, are carried to the drying- shed or house, where the 

 plants are hung up by pairs upon lines, leaving a space between, that they may 

 not touch one another. When perfectly dry, the leaves are stripped from the 

 stalks and made into small bundles, tied with one of the leaves. These bundles 

 are laid in heaps and covered with blankets; care is taken not to overheat 

 them, for which reason the heaps are laid open to the air from time to time, 

 and spread abroad. This operation is repeated till no more heat is perceived in 

 the heaps, and the tobacco is then ready for packing and shipping. 



I have been favored by Mr. J. M. Hernandez, a Cuba planter, 

 with some valuable instructions for the cultivation of Cuba 

 tobacco, which I subjoin. These remarks apply principally to 

 America, but most of the advice and information will be found 

 generally applicable to other localities : — 



The first thing to be considered in this, as in every other culture, is the 

 soil, which for this kind of tc-bacco {X. repanda) ought to be a rich, sandy, 

 loam, neither too high nor too low — that is, ground capable of retaining moisture, 

 the more level the better, and, if possible, well protected by margins. The 

 next should be the selection of a spot of ground to make the necessary beds. 

 It would be preferable to make these on land newly cleared, or, at all events, 

 when the land has not been seeded with grass; for grass seeds springing up to- 



