20 



color it indicates that the soil is too wet or that there is a lack of plant 

 food. In the former case better drainage should be provided. By 

 elevating the seed beds, as above described, there is no trouble from 

 excess of water. When there is a lack of plant food it is well to apply 

 an extract of barnyard manure or cotton-seed meal. This may be 

 applied as a spray, using care to not get the solution sufficiently con- 

 centrated to burn the plants. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



Experiments in methods of transplanting were made both outside 

 and under cover. A comparison was made outside between plants 

 partially shaded during the first ten days after planting and those 

 with no shade. For shading, mamey and mango leaves, both every- 

 where common in Porto Rico, were used. A leaf was placed 1 to 2 

 inches south of each tobacco plant, and by inserting the petiole in 

 the ground and inclining the top of the leaf toward the plant, this 

 shielded it from the direct rays of the sun during the hottest part of 

 the day. Five rows of 89 plants each, or 445 plants, were protected 

 with shade, and an equal number of rows and plants adjacent were 

 planted at the same time without shade. Of the protected plants 125 

 died and were replanted, and of the unprotected 300 died and were 

 replanted. At the time of harvesting the protected plants showed 

 much greater uniformity in growth than the unprotected ones. 



In Deli, Sumatra, it is a common practice to shade the plants by the 

 use of small, thin, paddle-shaped boards, the small end being stuck 

 into the ground to keep them in proper position. Such small boards 

 will last for a long time and may be repeatedly used year after year. 

 By reducing the numbers of plants necessary to reset, the crop is made 

 more uniform, easier to harvest, and of greater value. It is believed, 

 therefore, that this simple method of shading the young plants is 

 practicable in Porto Rico, especially so if planting is to be done 

 during periods when dry weather and sunshine prevail. 



A trial was also made to ascertain the effect of mamey leaves as a 

 protection against cutworms and mole crickets. Of 300 plants 

 wrapped in mamey leaves 200 died and had to be replanted, and of the 

 same number unprotected 220 died. The mamey leaves were formed 

 into cylinders, with the edges slightly overlapping, and placed in the 

 ground with the roots and stem of the plants inside. Care should 

 be taken to place the leaf no deeper in the soil than is necessary to 

 prevent the crickets from burrowing beneath. While the mamey 

 leaves make successful barriers against the crickets they are prob- 

 ably somewhat detrimental to the early growth of the plants, because 

 they confine the upper roots of the plant and also because water from 

 rains collects within the leaf and escapes very slowly, thus sometimes 

 injuring the plants. In both of the above experiments the planting 



