22 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
TOBACCO CCg^TURE, 
MODE OT CULTIVATIKG IN MASON COUNTY, KY., 
AND IN CONNECTICUT. 
By request we republish below an article on 
the cultivation ol tobacco in Connecticut, and 
a communication irom Judge Beatty on the cul- 
tivation ot tobacco in Mason county. Though 
the .soil in these two regions is as different as 
possible, the tobacco is very nearly ol the same 
kind, fine segar leaf, and the inference is strong 
that thick planting is the secret of the similarity 
ol the product. It will be observed that in Con- 
necticut the rows are but three feet apart, while 
Judge Beatty states the distance in Mason at 
three and a half feet. Another coincidence in 
the mode of culture in the two pltmes is high 
topping.— F'ar. * 
[From the Albany Cultivator.] 
Messrs. Gaylord and Tucker : — We grow in 
this town annually about three hundred tons of 
tobacco, and in the valley ol the Connecticut 
about five hundred tons are grown annually. 
The yield the last year (1843) was less than 
usual, fifteen hundred pounds being about the 
average per acre. The price of tobacco, the 
last season, ol a fair growth, was seven cents a 
pound, and most of the crop was sold before 
housed and cured. We have two varieties of 
the weed, the broad leaf and narrov/ leaf— the 
latter is about two weeks the earliest. 
it seems our tobacco is of a peculiar species, 
or our soil and climate are peculiarly adapted 
lor the production ol a superior article. 
The soil that produces our best tobacco is a 
light sandy loam. We prepare our beds lor the 
seed as early in April as possible — select the 
richest or best land in thegarden or on the farm, 
moist but not wet — manure and prepare it as 
we do for the cultivation of cabbage or any deli- 
cate plant for transplan ting — pulverize and make 
the bed as hne and smooth as possible ; then sow 
the seed broadcast about as thick as we do cab- 
bage seed: then roll or tread down* the bed 
thoroughly, that the seed may be 'pressed intotlie 
soil. The bed is kept clean of weeds. In a 
common season the plants will be large enough 
for transplanting by the 10th of June. The 
land for the crop should be well manured, and 
plowed at least twice before the time of trans- 
planting, and harrowed and rolled, or hushed, 
and left as smoolfi as possible. We mark the 
rows three feet apart and straight; on the rows 
we make small hills for the reception of the 
plants, two feet to two feet six inches apart. 
We have our land all prepared by the time the 
plants are large enough lor transplanting. If 
raining at the time, we take the advantage of it 
and get all our plants out; if not, we set and 
water. After this, the field is examined several 
times, and where plants are dry, or injured by 
w'orms, others are set in. As soon as they stand 
well, they are carefully hoed and vacant places 
filled with new' plants ; after this the cultivator 
IS usedbetw'een the rows and the crop kept clean 
with the hoe. The plants are frequently a.nd 
thoroughly examined for the tobacco worms, 
and they must be destroyed, if not the croj) is 
sure to be. When in blossom, and before the 
formation of seed, it is topped about thirty-two 
inches from the ground, leaving from sixteen to 
twenty leaves on each stalk. After this the 
suckers at each leaf are broken off, and the 
plantskept clean til! cut. When ripe, the time 
of cutting, the leafis spotted, thick, and will 
crack when pressed between thumb and finger. 
It is cut any time in the day alter the dew is off, 
left in the row till w'ilted, then turned, and if 
there is a hot sun it is often turned to prevent 
burning; after wilted it is put into small heaps 
of six or eight plants, then carted to the tobacco 
sheds for hanging. We usually use poles or 
rails about twelve feet long; hang with twine 
about forty plants on each rail — twenty each 
side, by crossing the twine from the plant.? one 
side to the plants the other, the rails about 
twelve inches apart. It hangs from six to ten 
weeks to get perfectly cured, which is knowm 
by the stem of the leaf being thoroughly dried. 
It is then, in a damp time, when the leaves will 
not crumble, taken from the poles and placed 
in large piles by letting the topsofthe plants lap 
each other, leaving the butts ol the plants out. 
It remains in these heaps from three to ten days 
before it is stripped, depending on the state of 
the weather, but must not be allowed to heat. 
When stripped it is made into small hands; 
the small and broken leaves should be kept by 
themselves. It is then, by tlie purchaser, pack- 
ed in boxes of about lour hundred pounds, and 
marked seed leaf lobacco. The most of our last 
crop has been shipped to Bremen. 
I think we can cultivate one acre of tobacco 
with the same labor and expense that we can 
two acres of corn that produces sixty bushels 
to the acre, and the manure requ ired is about 
the same as tor the corn crop, and I do not think 
it exhausts the land as much as the corn crop, 
for it is not allowed to seed. 
East Windsor^ Jan. 1844. Henry Watson. 
Prospect Hill, April 26, 1844. 
Dear Sir : — Your favor, ot the 26th of March, 
was duly received, and would have been sooner 
answered, but that 1 desired tooblain some in- 
formation on the subject of your inquiry, from 
some of my friends in the tobacco growing re- 
gion of Mason county. I had occasion to take 
a ride through that part of the country, two days 
since, and met with some intelligent tobacco- 
growers, with whom I conversed freely on the 
sulject. 1 was for merly engaged in the tobacco 
culture, but have, for a number of years, di.s- 
continued its culture, and was, therefore, de- 
sirous of availing m 3 selt of any late improve- 
ments which might have been made. Fur the 
general mode of treating the tobacco crop, from 
the sowing of the seed till it is prepared lor 
prising, I refer you to my essay on that subject, 
published in the Kentucky Farmer, in March, 
1841, and which will be republished in'a vol- 
ume of agricultural essays, now in press, and 
which will be ready lor delivery in about two 
months, a copy of which I will do myself the 
pleasure of sending you. In this letter 1 shall 
attempt togiveyou such additional information 
as may be useful in pro.lucing the fine toba' co 
cultivated for cigar wrappers. 
1. With respect to the kinds oftobacco culti- 
vated for the above purpose : There are the 
Summerville and light Burley — some prefer the 
former and some the latter. I do not under- 
stand that either has a decided preference. 
2. As to the soil suitable for its growth fine 
tobacco is found to succeed best on light rich 
soil, having a portion of sand mixed with it. 
New or fresh land is better than old ; and pretty 
steep hillsides, provided they are light and rich, 
are better adapted to producing fine tobaccothan 
level land. Hillsides, facing the Ohio river, 
and the numerous small branches emptying 
into it, when the land is newly cleared, and suffi- 
ciently rich, are well adapted to produce fine 
tobacco. I have seen these in cultivation, 
having an elevation of from twenty to thirty 
degrees. But level lands, or those nearly so, 
if new, and especially if the soil have a mixture 
of sand, are also well adapted to produce fine 
cigar tobacco. 
3. As to the mode of cultivation : This, per- 
haps, is the most important point in producing 
fine cigar tobacco. The ground should be well 
prepared, and rendered as light and as finely 
pulverized as possible. In laying off for plant- 
ing, 1 w'ould advise the use of a single horse 
P'low,^ ihrow'ing the ground into ridges, three 
and a half feet from centre to centre, and then 
crossing, at right angles, with single furrows, at 
the distance of two feet from centre to centre, 
and make the hills, so as to be as near a true 
line as po.ssible, three feet and a half from cen- 
tre to centre one way, and two the other. I re- 
commend the use of a one horse plow, in layr 
ing off, because, in this way, the ridges will be 
but little trodden down, and the ground will be 
left in a light condition. The difference in the 
width of the rows is to facilitate the working ot 
the tobacco, after it attains some size. 
Close planting is found to be essentially ne- 
cessary in raising fine tobacco, In the above 
mode of planting, each plant occupies seven 
square feet, and six thousand two hundred and 
twenty-three plants will stand upon an acre, if 
none be missing; and, allowing tour plants to 
make a pound, the yield will be one thousand 
five hundred and fifty-five pounds per acre. 1 
have heard of instances in which the product 
has been at the rate of a pound for three plants, 
or more than two thousand pounds per acre. 
But to produce this extraordinary crop, the sea- 
son must be vf ry favorable, and everything be 
managed in the most particular and skilful 
manner. 
To make fine tobacco, it is very important to 
piant '*«'/?/, so that the tobacco may be cured at 
that season of the year when the weather is warm 
and dry. To this end, plant beds should be 
sown very early and in situations where they 
have a good southeastern exposure. They 
should be lightly covered with brush to keep 
them moist until the plants get up, and a little 
while longer, if there is danger of hard frosts. 
New ground is best for plant beds. The hills 
for planting should be made as recently before 
the plants are ready as possible. These may be 
set out when very small, if the operation be 
skilfully managed, and thus the crop will be 
brought forward in good time. The plants 
should be topped to about sixteen leaves, exclu- 
sive ot the ground leaves, vdiich should be bro- 
ken off. I'he top leaves will, of course, not 
make fine tobacco, and must be separated when 
stripping, but high topping is important to' im- 
prove the quality ol the first ten or twelve leaves 
on each plant. 
It is the practice, in Mason, to cure tobacco 
without firing, except in damp rainy weather, 
when fire is applied to guard against what is 
called house burning, the danger of which is al- 
w'ays increased in rainy w'eather, especially 
where tobacco is hung clo.te. ' The almost 
universal mode of building tcbacco houses, in 
Mason, is to erect a four square pen of legs, 
hewed or round, with large open spaces between 
them, and then to construct a shed all around, 
about twelve feet wide, by planting posts in the 
ground, (locu.st if to be had,) and ship lapping 
scantling on these, at proper distances, from 
which poles are extended to the cracks of the 
log pen. The shed should he planked, up and 
dowm, to protect the tobacco from the weather. 
For the benefit of air, small interstices may be 
left between the planks, and it would be advan- 
tageous to have some broad planks, hung on 
hinges, on every side of the .‘hed, which might 
be opened in dry weather for the purpose of 
ventilation. It is now too late to sow tobacco 
seed, but if you w'ish it, I will procure and 
send}'ou some in time for next year. 
I have given, in answer to your inquiry, what 
seemed to me to be necessary. It you^wish 
farther information on an)' particular points, it 
will afford me pleasure, at all times, to comply 
with your wishes. Yours, cordially and sin* 
cerely, A. Beatty. 
To Cesrge W. Weissinger, Efq. 
Planting and Vegetating cf Garden Seeds* 
{Frotn {lie Colwnbus iGa.) Enquirer, 
Messrs. Editors : — As the season now ap- 
proaches for gardening, and very lew seem to 
properly understand the most suitable time and 
method of planting the different kinds ofgarden 
seed*', I thought you would confer a lav' r on a 
portion of your readers to publish a sia ement 
of the miost proper time to plant, and ihe vege- 
tating pow'ers of those kinds of s eds which suit 
our climate, and are in general use amongst us. 
The directions which follow' are for open cul- 
ture, and not for hot beds. Green Globe Arti- 
chokes, plant first of March in drills one inch 
deep, and eight or ten inchesapart, in rich eaiih, 
and transplant two feet apart when Ihe plant is 
six inches high. Asparagus, plant in February 
and March, in drills twelve inchesapart, cover 
the seeds about one inc h, when the plants are 
up, keep them clear of Weeds and the earth mel- 
low' around them, they wdll be fit to transplant 
w'l.en one year old ; transplant into a rich coiur 
