es — 
—— es —— ot 
TOBACCO. 
470 
on a slight hotbed in March; and one ounce will 
furnish plants for a plantation of an acre and a 
half in extent. The seed should not exceed two 
years old, and should be sown sufliciently thin 
to cover the surface of a bed 24 feet long and 4 
feet broad. It may be steeped before sowing, 
and kept moist in a warm place till it begins to 
swell, in order to hasten its germination. For- 
merly, the tobacco beds were covered with straw 
instead of glass frames; but the plants were 
found to be too much etiolated, and therefore 
glass sashes and a frame, like that used for grow- 
ing cucumbers, are recommended as decidedly 
preferable. Plenty of air is given at all times; 
and in fine weather, the sashes are removed dur- 
ing the day. About the beginning of May, and 
sometimes a fortnight earlier, the plants will 
have attained a sufficient size for transplanting ; 
and a week before this operation commences, the 
bed should be left night and day without the 
frame and sashes. The tobacco is nearly as sus- 
ceptible of injury from frost as the potato. The 
soil for the plantation should be deeply ploughed, 
well pulverised, and sufficiently manured. The 
plants may be placed in rows two feet apart, and 
two feet distant in the row: they should be wa- 
tered, and, if convenient, a little litter laid round 
the root of each plant, to retain the moisture in 
the soil. It must never be forgotten that tobacco 
loves the sun and humidity; hence, besides keep- 
ing the ground clear of weeds, the plants are 
watered frequently during the months of June, 
July and August. After the plants have pro- 
duced five or six leaves on the stem, they must 
be prevented from running to flower, by pinch- 
ing out the heart of the main shoot, and rubbing 
off all the side shoots which are produced from 
it. Without this precaution, the principal part 
of the nourishment drawn up by the plants would 
gotowards the formation of flowers and seeds, and 
the leaves would become thin and wither off. By 
shortening the main shoot, the whole of the nou- 
rishment is directed to the leaves, which thereby 
become strong and succulent, without any ten- 
dency to decay. Sometimes the plants are earthed 
up a little; but that operation is by no means 
essential. It is almost unnecessary to observe 
that, when seed is required, two or three vigor- 
ous plants are allowed to run to flower. When 
the seed is ripe, the plants are taken up, hung 
up in a dry airy situation, and afterwards the 
seed capsules taken off and preserved in paper 
till wanted. It is found that the seeds preserve 
much better when kept in the capsules than by 
any other means. 
The following mode of gathering and saving 
the crop is described in the Cours d’ Agriculture 
Complet, as. practised in Alsatia and in France. 
The leaves are known to be fit for cutting when 
they have attained their full size, a dark green 
colour, and a brittle succulent texture. The 
lowest leaves acquire these properties first, and, 
in gardens or small plantations, are therefore 
first gathered, by being cut off with a , knife close 
to the stem. Where tobacco is cultivated exten- 
sively, however, instead of gathering the leaves 
separately, the plants are cut over by the surface 
of the ground, and suspended under an open 
shed upon lines, so far apart that the leaves may 
not touch each other. In this state they remain 
till the leaves are perfectly dry, when they are 
stripped from the stalks, and tied in small bun- 
dles, a leaf serving for the tie. These bundles 
are laid in heaps in a shed, in order to bring 
on a similar degree of Fesmentinthe to what 
takes place in new hay. That this fermenta- 
tion may equally pervade every part, the heaps 
are covered with a cloth, sometimes blankets, 
mats, or a layer of straw. These heaps are 
opened and spread abroad to the air from time 
to time, in order to prevent their overheat- 
ing; and when this process has been carried on 
till no more heat is perceived in the heaps, the 
tobacco is fit for the manufacturer. But a con- 
siderably different mode is practised in America, 
and is described as follows by a writer in the _ 
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture 4, The: The plant | 
may be considered fully ripe when the leaves 
become corrugated and rough, and mottled with 
yellow spots on the raised parts, while the cavi- 
ties between retain their original green colour. 
At this time they also become thicker, and the 
footstalks are covered with a downy velvet. If 
the weather be moderate, it is better to allow 
the plants to stand, until all these indications 
are apparent ; but Nall frost come, they must 
be cut up, whether they are quite ripe or not. 
When the leaves begin to be corrugated, they 
must be nearly so. When quite ripe, the ga- 
therer proceeds to the field on the first fine day ; 
and, laying hold of the plant near the top with 
one hand, he cuts it over, with a large knife or 
axe, as near the root as possible, with the other. 
The stalk being severed, it is laid down with 
great care on the ground. The utmost gentle- 
ness must be used, in order to prevent the leaves, 
which are exceedingly tender and brittle, from 
being broken. The whole plants on the field 
being laid down, they are allowed to remain, 
during the rest af the day, exposed to the rays 
of the sun; and in the evening, they will be 
found quite jaheat and flexible,—or, as the Ame- 
ricans call it, ‘wilted.’ Should the weather prove 
rainy, the operation of wilting must be allowed 
to go on under cover; but it is much more ef- 
fectually done in the open air; and, on this 
account, the gathering ought never to be com- 
menced unless the weather promises to be fine. 
In the evening, before sunset, when the leaves 
are completely wilted, and do not run so much 
risk of being broken, the plants are removed 
from the field into a large shed or house for the 
purpose, and laid in large heaps on the floor. 
When they have been in this situation about 24 
hours, they will begin to ferment; and, when 
this operation is going on, they must be con- 
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