442 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." [Dec. 1, 1900. 
I'otasli should occur chiefly as carbonate (or 
ordinary wood-ash,) in the soil, and the lichness of 
a soil for tobacco is chiefly due to the abundant 
presence of nitrogen, potasii and lime, as nitrates, 
carbonates, sulphates and phosphates. From thi'4 
it will appear that the most appropriate manures 
for the tobacco crop are ashes (or cruile potassium 
carbonate), saltpetre, gypsum and lime. Buc us 
manuring is expensive, soils natuniUv ricli in 
nitrogenous and ash constitueuts, that is, very 
fertile soil should be chosen for growing this crop. 
3, notation. 
Tobacco is sometimes grown after jute or Indian 
corn lias been harvested, but very often it forms 
the only crop of tne year. It can be grown for 
three or four years successively on the same grouud. 
4. Seed-Bcd, 
The soil of the seed-bed is dug up witli spade 
and manured with rotten cowdung and ashes and 
then raised artificially about 6 inches. When the 
ground has. been well pulverised, it is levelled. 
Seed is sown thin, so that each seedling miiy have 
about one inch of space round it. After sowing, 
the seed is lightly covered up with earth. The 
seed-bed is kept covered with mats until ger- 
mination takes place. It is nec.-esary also to keep 
the seedlings protected from rain and heat; of the 
sun. They may require to be watered at intervals 
of two or three days. Seed is generally sown in 
the middle of Bhudro (first week of September). 
In dry laterite soil it is best to do the sowing 
early, i.e., about the second -or third week of 
August. Half an ounce (1^ tola) of seed is to be 
sown to produce plant required for one acre ; but 
loss invariably occurs owing to patches of seedlings 
growing too thick. It is therefore advisable to 
grow seedlings from one ounce of seed for one 
acre of Ifnd. Sometimes ants do considerable 
damage to seed and seedlings when ashes sprinkled 
round and over the seed-bed prove efBcacious. 
5. Preparation of Land. 
The soil for the tobacco cultivation should be 
prepared during the months of August and 
September. Eight to ten ploughings are necessary. 
Deep cultivation and thorough pulverisation of the 
soil are most important. The soil should be 
liberally manured with well-rotted cowdung and 
ashes. The soil is then to be levelled with a light 
harrow. It is needless to say that even poor soil 
can be made to produce a good crop by proper 
tillage and heavy manuring. Soils destitute of 
potash, unmanured soils or soils manured with flesh, 
humus, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride 
and potassium chloride produce a bad burning 
tobacco which is unsuitable for making cigars. 
The use of cowdung also should be avoided in 
rai.--ing tobacco for the manufiicture of cigars, 
Potas-ium carbonate, saltpetre, potassium sulphate, 
and calcium sulphate (gypsum) are the best 
manures for tobacco intended for cigars. They 
give to the leaves a sweet flavour and burning 
quality. Gyjisum is e.xcelleut as a top dresser, 
and its use is jjurt icularly recommended to Indian 
cultivator.-^. Crops manured with it suffer less 
from 'Jie effects of drought and require les.s 
irrigation. Gypsum is a byeproduct iu the 
manufacture of the Eerated waters and can le 
obtained very cheap,— at 4 to 8 annas per maund. 
The mineral manures are used generally from 2^ 
to 4^ maands per acre. Ordinary household aslies 
also are an excellent manure for tobacco. They 
contain a large amount of potash and lime, and 
are particularly recommended for clay and humus 
soils. 
G. Transplantiny. 
When the seedlings are about 3 inches high in 
the nursery, that is, after they have shown three 
or four leaves, which takes place within six 
weeks from sowing time, they are fit for trans- 
plantation. The transplantation begins in the 
beginning of Aswin (the 3rd week of September), 
and extends as late as the end of X.irtick (middle 
of JS'^ovember). Early planiing is preferalile, 
especially for dry climates. The seedlings should 
bu i)lanted in the evening 'd feet apart from one 
another. Smaller varieties, as Hingly, Motihari, 
etc., may be conveniently phiiiled 2 feet apart. 
The transplanted young seedlings are to be care- 
fully watered for the first few days until thej' strike 
root. Irrigation may be afterwards necessary at 
intervals of about ten to twenty daj-s, according to 
the nature of the soil. In Eangpur and Jal- 
paiguri a hand plough is repe.atedly dragged by a 
man alternately along and across the tobacco 
fields, which serves the purpose of lioeing and 
stirring the soil. This is done until the flower 
buds are seen. In places where artificial Irriga- 
tion is required, regular hoeing is wanted — twice 
after each irrigation, or four times in a month. 
7. After-treatment. 
A few days before the plants run to flower, 
their buds and lower leaves shoud be nipped off, 
and they should be so pruned that only eight 
leaves, and on no account more than ten, may be 
left to each plant from the top. In Jalpaiguri 
finely-powdered earth is used to stop bleeding or 
overflowing of sap from the broken parts imme- 
diately after pruning. This mode should be 
followed in* other quarters. Plants reserved for 
seeding should be topped in this waj', but left to 
flower and seed. The plants al.vays bring forth 
shoots by the side of the stalks of leaves pruned, 
and care should be taken to prune off the shoots 
every now and again until the leaves are mature. 
The longer these buds and shoots are kept, the 
more injury is done to the leaves required to be 
gathered. — Indian Agriculturist. 
(To he concluded). 
♦ 
GENEEAL ITEMS, 
Senor V. Marcano, one of the leading medical 
authorities of Cuba, has discovered that the juice 
of the Pineapple materially aids in the digesting 
of the proteids of both animal and vegetable 
foodstuffs, while E. H. Chittenden, of the Con- 
necticut Academy of Sciences, asserts that the 
fresh Pineaijple juice is a constant and powerful 
digesfant of albuminous matters, acting in both 
alkaline and acid media, but more energetically 
in neutral than in either of the others. In fact, 
chemists have separated the active digestant 
