16 



blast is in operation. The light seed is blown out and the heavier 

 seed falls to the bottom of the tube. 



After the seeds are sown they should be watered, using a watering 

 pot with very fine rose, and the bed will have received enough water 

 when the color of the ashes has disappeared. Xo covering of soil 

 should be placed over the seed. Germination occurs in from eight 

 to twelve days. The 3 r oung plants are extremely minute, and the 

 growth is very slow for at least a week. The surface of the seed bed 

 should never be allowed to dry out, but the bed should not be soaked. 

 This will require close attention on the part of whoever attends to 

 the seed beds. 



SEED-BED ENEMIES. 



The enemies of the tobacco plants in the seed beds are slugs, flea- 

 beetles, and the damping-off fungus. If the seed beds are in the field 

 or open land cutworms are sometimes a serious pest. 



Slugs or snails are nocturnal enemies. They destroy the seedlings 

 in all stages of growth. Slugs hide in the daytime under boards or 

 stones, or in the loose earth, near the seed beds. The best remedies 

 against slugs are common salt and lime. If wooden frames are used 

 the paths between the seed beds should be sprinkled with coarse salt. 



If sterilized soil is used in the seed beds there will not be much 

 trouble with flea-beetles, but if unsterilized soil is used these are 

 found to be quite destructive. The best remedy is the use of water. 

 Keep the seed bed moist. If allowed to dry out it is not only bad 

 for the young plants, but supplies favorable conditions for the rapid 

 increase in the number of flea-beetles. 



Sterilizing the soil will prevent loss from the damping-off fungus, 

 Rhizoctonia sp. This fungus is prevalent in Hawaiian soils, espe- 

 cially in the windward districts. It is a parasitic disease of the seed- 

 lings of almost all plants. If unsterilized soil is used the only remedy 

 to check the spread of the damping-off fungus, when an outbreak 

 occurs, is to spray the soil with a 3 per cent solution of formalin, or 

 with Bordeaux mixture. A mixture of 3 ounces of flowers of sul- 

 phur, 4 ounces of finely powdered copper sulphate, and 14 pounds 

 finely sifted air-slaked lime, thoroughly mixed, dusted over the seed 

 bed with a fine-meshed cloth bag has been found effective as a check 

 against this fungus. If flea -beetles are prevalent add to the mixture 

 24 ounces of Paris green. 



The remedy for cutworms is poisoning at frequent intervals with 

 a mixture of bran, sugar, and Paris green. This should be scattered 

 over the seed beds in the evening, as cutworms feed almost entirely 

 at night. 



Another pest which sometimes causes serious loss is the club root, 

 a disease caused by microscopic worms called nematodes, which bur- 



