CHAPTER II. CULTIVATION.

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The following observations on the methods of cultivating tobacco have reference more particularly to the processes as conducted in Cuba, India, and the United States; this branch of agriculture has been brought to great perfection in the last-named country, and the supervision of the operations in India is mostly entrusted to skilled Americans.

Climate.—Of the many conditions affecting the quality of tobacco, the most important is climate. The other conditions that must be fulfilled in order to succeed in the cultivation of this crop may be modified, or even sometimes created, to suit the purpose; but cultivators can do little with reference to climate: the utmost they can do is to change the cultivating season, and this only in places where tobacco can be grown nearly throughout the year. The aromatic principles, on the presence of which the value of a tobacco chiefly depends, can only be properly developed in the plant by the agency of high temperature and moisture. The fame that Cuban and Manilla tobaccos enjoy is mostly due to the climate. The article produced in Cuba is most highly esteemed; up to this time, no other country has been able to compete successfully with it. However it cannot be doubted that there are many places whose climate justifies the assumption that a tobacco could be grown there, not inferior to that produced in the West Indies. The more closely the climate of a place corresponds with that of Cuba, the greater chance is there that a Havana a variety will preserve its peculiar aroma. In such places, a fine and valuable tobacco may be grown with less expenditure on labour, &c., than it is necessary to bestow in raising an inferior article in less suitable climes. In countries where a low temperature rules, the plants must be raised in hot-beds, and there is also a great risk that the young plants may be destroyed by frost, or afterwards by hailstones. When damp weather prevails during the tobacco harvest, it is often injured; and to give the required flavour, &c., to make the article marketable, macerating has often to be resorted to, thus involving great risk and expenditure. But in spite of these drawbacks, tobacco cultivation is often very remuneratively carried out in countries possessing an unfavourable climate. The deficient climatic conditions are here partly compensated for by making the other conditions affecting the quality of tobacco, and which can be controlled by the cultivator, the most favourable possible.

Soil.—The soil affects to a great extent the quality of a tobacco. The plant thrives best in a soil rich in vegetable mould; this, however, is not so much required to supply the necessary plant food, as to keep the soil in a good physical condition. No other plant requires the soil in such a friable state. A light soil, sand or sandy loam, containing an average amount of organic matter, and well drained, is considered best adapted for raising smoking-tobacco; such a soil produces the finest leaves. The more organic matter a soil contains, the heavier is the outturn; but the leaves grow thicker, and the aroma becomes less. As, in tropical climates, the physical properties of the soil play a prominent part in its productive capabilities generally, and the presence of organic matter in the soil tends to improve these properties, it will rarely occur that in such places a soil will contain too much humus. The more clay in a soil, the less is it adapted to the production of fine smoking-tobacco, on account of its physical properties being less favourable to the development of the aromatic principles; the leaf becomes also generally thick and coarse, but the outturn on such soils is commonly heavier than on a more sandy one. A clay soil possessing a great amount of humus may, if properly tilled, produce an ordinary smoking-tobacco, and may even, if great attention be paid to the selection of the variety, &c., produce leaves for cigar-wrappers.

Of less importance than the physical properties of the soil is its chemical composition. By proper tillage and heavy manuring, tobacco is sometimes grown on comparatively poor soils. From analysis of the plant, it is clear that it contains a large amount of ash constituents, which it extracts from the soil; the most important of these are potash and lime. A soil destitute of these constituents would require a great quantity of manure to supply the wants of tobacco.

An experienced Ohio planter, Judson Popenoe, speaking of soil, says “A rich, sandy, second bottom, I believe to be the best for raising tobacco, although our chocolate-coloured uplands, when very rich and highly manured, will grow an excellent quality of tobacco, but will not yield as much to the acre. Black river-bottoms will yield more to the acre than any other kind of land, but the tobacco is not of so fine a quality; it grows larger, has coarser stems, and heavier body, and consequently, in my opinion, is not so good for wrappers or fine cut as the second bottom or upland tobacco.”

On the same subject, an Illinois grower observes, “for us in the West, and for all the localities that have not an over-amount of heat, experience has proved, that a dry, warm soil (loam or sandy loam), rich, deep, and containing lime, is most suitable for tobacco. The more sandy, to a certain degree, the soil is, the better will be the quality of the tobacco; the nearer the soil is to clay, the poorer will be the crop under similar circumstances, although the yield may yet be satisfactory. Clayey soil will hardly produce tobacco suitable for cigars. Wet and tough clay soils are under no circumstances suitable to tobacco.”

Situation.—Land intended for tobacco-culture should have good drainage, and be sheltered from high winds. In Holland, where tobacco-cultivation is carried out to great perfection, each field is surrounded by a hedge about 7 ft. high; the fields are divided into small plots, which are again bordered by rows of plants that are able to break the force of the wind, which would injure the leaves, and render them of comparatively little value. To this circumstance must chiefly be attributed the fact that Dutch growers succeed in getting as much as 50 per cent. of leaves of the first quality, whereas in most other countries 25 per cent. is considered to be a very good outturn.

In the United States, several rows of pole beans, i. e. scarlet runners, a few steps apart, are sometimes planted as a wind-screen.

Manure.—In its natural state, the soil will rarely possess the elements of plant food in such a form as is most conducive to the production of a fine tobacco-leaf. Any deficiency must be supplied in the shape of suitable manure. SchlÖsing found that a bad burning tobacco was produced on a soil containing little potash, on unmanured soil, on soil manured with flesh, humus, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and potassium chloride. A good burning tobacco was produced on a soil manured with potassium carbonate, saltpetre, and potassium sulphate. More recent experiments carried out by other investigators tend to corroborate these conclusions. It is generally assumed that a soil rich in nitrogenous organic matter produces a strong tobacco that burns badly.

The results of Nessler’s experiments clearly show that it is not sufficient to apply the element most needed by the plant—potash—in any form, but that, to produce a good tobacco, it is necessary to apply it in a particular combination. It was found that potash carbonate applied as manure produced the best tobacco: it burned for the longest time, and its ash contained most potash carbonate; whereas potash chloride produced a much inferior tobacco. The assertion of other experimenters that chlorides produce a bad tobacco is thus confirmed. Potash sulphate and lime sulphate produced a good tobacco. It may be noticed here that tobacco which was manured with gypsum contained a great amount of potash carbonate in the ash, probably due to the fact that gypsum is a solvent for the inert potash salts. From the foregoing, it may be concluded that in tobacco cultivation, the elements potassium and calcium should be restored to the soil in the form of carbonate, sulphate, or nitrate, but not as chlorides. Poudrette, or prepared night-soil, generally contains a considerable amount of chlorides, and is not well suited as manure for fine tobacco. It has been found that fields manured with chlorides produced heavily; a small proportion of chlorides may therefore be applied in this form, whenever quality is of less importance than quantity. Farmyard manure may suffice when tobacco is cultivated in proper rotation, but here also, unless the soil be very rich in potassium and calcium, the application of some special manure will greatly enhance the value of the outturn. Wood-ashes are a valuable supplement to stable dung. Gypsum is an excellent dressing for soils in a good manurial condition: it supplies the lime needed by the tobacco, and acts as a solvent on the inert potash salts. Gypsum applied on poor land, however, hastens the exhaustion of the soil. It is said that crops manured with gypsum suffer less from the effects of drought, and require less irrigation, than when manured otherwise: the leaves of plants that had been manured with gypsum exhaling less water than when manured with other substances. If this assertion be correct, gypsum would be invaluable to the Indian cultivator.

With regard to the amount of manure to be employed, it may be observed that, with farmyard manure properly rotted, there is no theoretical limit, especially when the tobacco is intended for snuff, and is grown in a hot climate, where the physical properties of the soil are of the utmost importance. It is said that some Rhenish-Bavarian soils contain as much as 15 per cent. of organic matter, yet the cultivator considers it necessary to heavily manure each tobacco crop. Dutch growers apply to the rich alluvial soil as much as 25 tons an acre of well-rotted cattle-manure. In America, it is reported that the heaviest crops are obtained on soil newly taken up, and very rich in vegetable mould. It is considered nearly everywhere that tobacco will pay best when heavily manured. The first care of even the poorest peasant in the tobacco districts of Germany, Holland, &c., as soon as he sells his tobacco, is to purchase the manure which he considers essential to his success.

The amount of any special manure which can be applied without injury to the plants depends very much on the solubility of the stuff, and the manner of applying it. Highly soluble salts, such as soda or potash nitrate, should be applied in smaller quantities than salts which dissolve slowly. With regard to the manner of applying concentrated manures, it is evident that, when a salt is applied in close proximity to the plant, less will be required than when strewn over the whole field. When applied in solution, not more than 300 lb. of nitrate per acre should be used at one time. The amount to be applied varies also with the soil; a sandy soil, which has little absorptive power, should receive less than a clay. Salts easily disintegrating should not be applied before tobacco has been planted, especially not before heavy rains which would carry off the salt. To supply the potash required by the tobacco plant, 200 lb. of good saltpetre per acre would be sufficient in most cases. Lime, although removed from the soil in large quantities, is rarely applied to tobacco as a special manure. Where wood-ashes can be had at a moderate price, lime may be applied in this form. Some ashes are very rich in lime. It has been found that ashes obtained from beech-wood contain 52 per cent. of lime, and those from oak-wood as much as 75.

Whilst most growers are agreed that tobacco is a crop demanding a rich soil, there is a want of uniformity of opinion as to the best method of manuring. On this point, C. Schneider, a successful Illinois planter, says “manuring cannot be done too early, or too heavily. The manures are very different, and equally useful for the different kinds of tobacco. We may classify them as follows:—

“To be applied shortly before planting, and in equal quantities, for all kinds of tobacco: 1. Guano, 200 to 300 pounds on the acre; 2. Poultry-droppings, 400 to 500 pounds; 3. Green manure in any quantity; 4. Sheep-dung, 6 two-horse loads; 5. Cattle manure, 10 two-horse loads.

“For chewing-tobacco and snuff: 1. Sheep-dung, 10 to 12 loads per acre; 2. Cattle manure, 20 to 30 loads; 3. Horse-dung, 15 to 25 loads; 4. Hog manure, 20 to 30 loads. The last two are useless for smoking-tobacco, or for that to be used for cigars.

“The first three manures (guano, poultry-droppings, and green manure) must be followed after the tobacco-crop, by a plentiful supply of stable-manure. The tobacco-stalks themselves, rotted or burned to ashes, sown over the field before the transplanting, or in the planting-furrows, will act as a good manure, but are not sufficient. In highly-worked farms, that is, where the soil is valuable, and cannot remain idle, it will pay every way, to sow rye for fodder on the tobacco-land in the fall; this may be made into hay, or turned under as manure at the beginning of July, just as may seem most profitable. Deep ploughing for the rye, and afterward for the tobacco, must not be forgotten.”

R. E. Burton, in the Sugar Cane, translating from Mitjen’s essay on tobacco growing in the most renowned district of Cuba, has the following sensible remarks on the all-important subject of manuring:—

“Each veguero or farmer should make a hole or rotting-bin in which he should deposit as much muck and leaves as he may be able to accumulate, and, before giving the last ploughing to prepare his field for planting the tobacco, he should spread over it all the prepared rotten manure he can procure. Manure that is not thoroughly rotten injures the plants more than benefits them. A piece of land, well manured and thoroughly worked up, will produce four times more tobacco than one badly prepared would. Consequently no expense or labour is so remunerative as that which is applied to the soil. This is a very important point which should fix the attention of every agriculturist who desires to prosper.

“Agriculturists acknowledge the advantage of manuring. In tobacco cultivation it produces the most brilliant results, but in Vuelta-Abajo it is very difficult to procure sufficient country manure. Yagues (i.e. strips of palm bark used as screens, and for baling) and all the refuse from palm trees are excellent; grass from the savannahs and all kinds of vegetables in a thoroughly putrid state are very good, but it requires a great quantity, and the immense labour to collect and prepare these, frightens the greater number of vegueros, and few have sufficient constancy to enable them to collect enough properly prepared manure for their fields.

“The most which some manage to do is to spread refuse over some portions of land, where it rots and fertilizes the soil; but this system is inefficacious, because the vegetable substances being very light, the heavy rains wash away the greater portion of the decomposed matter, and fully nine-tenths are lost. If the system was adopted of depositing this manure in holes or trenches, from which it can be removed when thoroughly rotted and fit for the fields, it would produce much more with much less labour; for although at first sight the labour appears to be doubled, by having to carry it twice, it must be remembered that one load of well-prepared manure is better than ten or twenty of grass or bush that is not rotten.

“But in every way there is great difficulty in collecting vegetable manure in sufficient quantities; recently, guano has been tried with the most brilliant success.

“Peruvian guano is the most compact fertilizer known, and a very small quantity suffices to manure a tobacco field; its cost is not excessive, and is very frequently less than the carriage of other manures to the spot where they are to be used. Its most active results are shown on light and sandy soil; it quickens vegetation, and experience has shown that it increases prodigiously the quantity and value of crops; we therefore recommend the use of guano as a fertilizer of the first order for tobacco cultivation, and as light and sandy soils possess in themselves the substances most suitable for the development of the tobacco plant, on such soils guano acts as a stimulant to the plant.

“Before using Peruvian guano, it should be sifted; all the stones and lumps remaining should be broken up, and again sifted, so that nothing may be lost. After this, three or four times its weight of dry sandy soil should be thoroughly mixed with it, and it should remain thus 6–8 days before being used. This preparation should be made under cover, to avoid the possibility of rain falling on the mixture, and the heap should be covered with the empty guano bags, or anything else, to prevent the evaporation of the volatile alkali which it contains.

“It is better to prepare this mixture in detail, each heap containing one bag of guano, whose weight is 150–160 lb., so as to facilitate the calculation of the quantity that should be applied, and prevent mistakes. We will start, therefore, on this calculation.

“On lands of good quality, but which, nevertheless, require manure, from having been overworked, one pound of guano should be applied to each 15–20 superficial yards, or, say one heap of compost for each 2500–3000 yards, or, otherwise said, one heap of manure will suffice for a surface that contains 5000–6000 plants.

“In sandy unproductive soil, and on sterile savannah lands, 1 lb. of guano to 9–12 yards; or a heap of compost guano to 1500–2000 yards; or one heap for 3000–4000 plants.

“These are the proportions to be used for the first year; for the second, and forward, two-thirds of that employed the first year will be sufficient.

“When crops of tobacco and corn are grown on the same lands, half the guano should be applied to the corn and the other half to the tobacco; but then a somewhat larger quantity will be required. The manure should be applied shortly before transplanting, and after the ground has been well cross-ploughed and prepared, and the ground should be plotted out into squares or beds of 50 yards square. The manure should then be spread and ploughed in, and the land should at once be furrowed and planted.

“Under this system of applying Peruvian guano as manure for tobacco the best results have been obtained, and, of all the various trials made, this is the most simple and the easiest to execute.”

The remarks of the last-quoted essayist are good so long as guano is to be had. But there is a limit to the supply, and in many places it would be unprocurable.

The necessity for more definite knowledge concerning the actual wants of the tobacco plant in the matter of food, led to an investigation of the subject some years ago by Prof. S. W. Johnson on behalf of the Connecticut State Board of Agriculture, and more recently by Schiffmayer for the Agricultural Department of the Madras Presidency.

Prof. Johnson aptly observes it to be “a well-established fact that plants may receive from the soil and retain a larger portion of ash-ingredients than is needful for nutrition. This is especially marked in case of the lime, potash, and soda salts. The excess of these substances thus taken up may either be deposited in the solid state in the cells of the plant, or may remain dissolved in the juices. In tobacco, a part of the nitrogen usually exists as a nitrate, in combination with potash. That is to say, portions of the nitrogenous food of the plant—the nitrates of the soil—are not completely worked over into albuminoids, and into nicotine, the nitrogenous constituents of tobacco, but accumulate and remain in considerable quantity in the sap. When a dry tobacco-leaf is set on fire, it often burns like ‘touch paper’ (paper soaked in a solution of saltpetre and dried) with bright sparkles of fire, indicating the points where the nitre has gathered in minute crystals as the juice of the leaf evaporated. The quantity of superfluous salts in the plant depends upon its succulence, and upon the supply of them in the soil. Doubtless certain definite amounts of potash, lime, magnesia, iron, sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid are absolutely necessary to produce a given weight of tobacco. In case several or all these substances are superabundant in the soil, the plant has no power to exclude any unnecessary surplus of one or all of them from its interior altogether, although there are good reasons known to prevent their entrance beyond a certain limit. In one soil potash may be relatively most abundant, and may for that reason be found in the crop in greater quantity than was necessary for the growth of that crop. In another soil lime may be in surplus, and there the crop may have the minimum of potash, and a considerable excess of lime.

“The crop is a result of the working together of a number of causes or conditions; these are the heat and light of the sun, carbonic acid and oxygen of the atmosphere, water, nitrates and ammonia, and the ash-elements enumerated in our table of analyses. The crop is limited in quantity by that condition of growth, which is presented to it most sparingly. The richest and best prepared soil without solar warmth, or without due supplies of rain, cannot give a crop, and if weather be most favourable, then in one field it may be too little potash, in another too little phosphoric acid, in another too little nitrogen, which lowers the yield, or reduces the quality of the product.

“It is usual in tobacco culture to manure very heavily, and in many cases it is probable that all the various forms of plant food are present in available abundance. But soils differ in the nature of the supplies which they are able to yield to crops, and fertilizers even, when the same in name, may be very unlike in fact. The chief reliance of the tobacco farmer is stable manure. This, however, is by no means uniform in origin, appearance, evident quality, or chemical composition. The manure from bullocks, wintered on hay and roots, is very different from that of horses maintained chiefly on oats or corn. The yard manure that contains much strawy litter or much wasted hay, differs again from that of the city stables, from which the straw is carefully raked out to be used over and over again for bedding. The farm-made manure is likely to be much richer in potash and lime, and the city manure is richer in phosphates and nitrogen. Yet in the reports of the farmer, these two essentially different fertilizers are designated as stable manure simply.

“Every one understands that a fertilizer acts upon the plant to supply it with food, and to favour its growth; everybody is also convinced that some fertilizers act upon the soil, improving its texture and composition and increasing its fertility. It is an equally well ascertained fact that the soil acts upon fertilizers to modify their effect. A very wet or very dry soil is known to nullify the benefit which might be expected of a fertilizer in a simply moist soil; but more than this, more than by the accident of external circumstances, it is a fact that each kind of soil has a special action of its own on fertilizers, so that if it were asserted of two soils, which, unmanured, were of equal fertility, that a given fertilizer applied to both, greatly improved the crop on one, and had little effect on the other, such a statement might not only be accepted as a fact, but an explanation might be given in general terms for such a fact.

“Now experiments have shown that different soils when mixed with like quantities of various fertilizing elements and then treated with water, in imitation of rain, manifest very different behaviour toward the admixed substances. One soil will lay hold of the potash in a fertilizer, and fix it in a kind of chemical combination so firmly that water can dissolve it but with extreme slowness; another soil puts its grasp on the lime of a fertilizer, and at the same time allows potash which belongs to itself to be dissolved out freely. There is, in fact, always a complicated series of changes set in operation whenever any fertilizer is incorporated with the soil, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral; be it alkali, acid, or saline; be it made on the farm or imported from abroad; be it natural or artificial. The fertilizer acts on the soil, and the soil reacts on the fertilizer; but the point we wish to make prominent is this, that different soils are differently affected by one and the same application, or in other words, a given manure fertilizes a given crop unequally in degree, and unlike in kind, on different soils, by virtue of the different assimilating or fixing power, which the soil exerts upon its ingredients.

“We know of the existence of these peculiarities of soils, and something of their causes and of the laws by which they act; but the real necessities of the tobacco crop, or of any other crop, as respects soil-ingredients, cannot be arrived at by chemical analysis of a single sample, nor of a dozen samples.” Thus analyses of a dozen New England tobaccos showed the following highest and lowest percentages of each ash-ingredient, and of nitrogen:—

Silica 0·05 to 0·30 Magnesia 0·94 2·21
Chlorine 0·08 2·55 Potash 3·90 7·45
Sulphuric acid 0·52 1·69 Soda 0·08 1·81
Phosphoric acid 0·47 0·80 Nitrogen 3·20 5·11
Lime 3·17 8·22

“It appears that the percentages of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash are nearly twice as great in some samples as in others; that the proportions of magnesia and lime are about 2½ times greater in some samples than in others, and that sulphuric acid is 3 times more in one case than in another. The variation of silica is still greater, and the disparity rises to its extreme in case of soda and chlorine, whose maxima are respectively 20 and 30 times greater than their minima.”

The three ingredients chlorine, silica, and soda cannot be considered in the light of essentials to tobacco culture; but the other substances are absolutely indispensable to plant growth, and the absence of any one of these would render a soil incapable of sustaining agricultural vegetation of any kind. “The variation in the percentage of these ingredients depends somewhat upon the fact that the leaves of different crops are unequally developed, and therefore their nutritive needs are unlike; but it is, no doubt, chiefly connected with the fact that the plant takes up from a highly fertilized soil more of each or every element than is essential for growth. The nearly certain conclusion is that every one of the crops analysed contains more of some elements than belongs to its nutrition. It is quite certain that the average of the analyses of the New England tobaccos is fully up to the mark as regards the necessities of the crop. It is, indeed, not improbable that the lowest percentages of each ingredient are quantities sufficient for a perfect crop. Still, it is not proved that lime may not partially take the place of potash, or the reverse. The probability of such a substitution is great upon the face of most of the analyses. As a rule, those which show most potash show least lime and vice versÂ; but in one sample both ingredients are considerably below the average. The practical issue of these considerations is to give great probability to the view that the tobacco crop is fed unnecessarily (and wastefully?) high.” (Prof. Johnson.)

Tobacco is usually characterized as a very exhausting crop. This is not true as regards the amount of nutriment taken from the soil, for in this respect tobacco is less exacting than hay, potatoes, or rye. It demands chiefly potash and lime, with phosphoric acid and nitrogen. Prof. Johnson recommends for the manuring of one acre, besides ploughing in the stalks of the plants, 500 lb. rock guano or 800 lb. fish guano, 500 lb. kainit (potash salts), and 50 lb. quicklime. But surely it cannot be advisable to mix quicklime with an ammoniacal manure like guano; it seems to the writer that gypsum, or spent calcium oxide from gasworks, would be a far preferable medium for conveying lime to the soil.

As observed by Johnson, the “demand made on the soil or on fertilizers by the tobacco crop, is for certain reasons greater than that made by other crops which receive more of nearly every kind of plant food. Hay is more exhausting than tobacco as measured by total export from the soil, but grass grows the whole year throughout, save when the ground is frozen or covered with snow, or for more than 8 months. The period of active growth which is required to mature a hay crop, begins indeed in April, and is finished by July, a period of 3 months, but during the year previous, for at least 5 months, in case of the first crop, the grass plants have been getting a hold upon the soil, filling it with their roots, and storing up food in their root-stocks or bulbs, for the more rapid aftergrowth. Tobacco on the other hand cannot be set out in the field before about the 10th of June, and should be in the shed in about 3 months. Its growth then must be a very rapid one, and the supplies of food in the soil must be very abundant so that the quick-extending roots may be met at every point with their necessary pabulum. A crop of 1260 lb. dry leaves requires about 1100 lb. of dry stalks to support the leaves, making a total of 2360 lb. of dry vegetable matter. As new hay contains not less than one-sixth of moisture, we increase the above dry weight of the tobacco crop by one-sixth, to make a fair comparison, and obtain as the yield of an average tobacco field 2750 lb. of air-dry vegetable matter, or more than 1? tons. The matter stands then thus: An acre of first-rate grass land yields as the result of 8 months’ growth, 2¾ tons of crop, while the tobacco land must yield 1? tons in 3 months.

“If the above data are correct, the average rate of growth of tobacco is greater than that of a corresponding hay crop, in the ratio of 9:7. The real disparity is, however, much greater. The principal growth of tobacco is accomplished in the hottest summer weather, and in a period of some 40–50 days. Very heavy manurings are therefore essential to provide for its nourishment, and the more so because the best tobacco lands are light in texture, and may suffer great loss by drainage, evaporation, and decomposition.”

From these premises, Prof. Johnson advances to the question of what should or should not be presented to the plant in the form of manure. He commences with a caution that, in general, growers must “avoid employing fertilizers which contain salt or other chlorine compound in raising wrapping or smoking tobacco. It is evident, also, that there is no occasion to use any fertilizer for the special object of supplying phosphoric acid, since the heaviest export of this substance does not exceed 10 lb. per acre, annually. It may be well to mention here that phosphates which may be put upon a tobacco field, in guano, &c., cannot suffer waste by washing out, and will come to use when grain or grass shall follow in the rotation.”

He observes of gypsum (lime sulphate) that it is “a valuable application to tobacco, not because it is very largely taken up by the crop, for the greatest export of sulphuric acid, viz. 20 lb. per acre, is restored by 50 lb. of plaster, and the greatest export of lime, 120 lb., is made good by 400 lb. of the sulphate, but because lime sulphate dissolves in 400 times its weight of water, and may rapidly wash out of the porous tobacco lands, and especially because the solution of lime sulphate in the soil is a very effective agent in rendering soluble and accessible to crops the potash and magnesia, which too often exist in close-locked combinations. The average annual rainfall (snow included) in our latitudes, is no less than 10,000,000 lb. per acre. This enormous quantity of water would be enough to dissolve and wash out of the soil 25,000 lb. of gypsum per acre if it had time to saturate itself, and then flowed off. In fact, but a small proportion of the rainfall runs through and out of the soil, not more than 10 to 20 per cent., according to its porosity and situation; but it is plain that there is nothing to hinder the waste of a hundred pounds or more of gypsum per acre yearly, Since all investigations go to show that the soil has no retaining power for lime sulphate as it has for potash and for phosphoric acid. In Nessler’s experiments, gypsum had an excellent effect on the burning quality of the tobacco raised under its application, an effect attributable, he believes, to the fact that this fertilizer often liberates potash in the soil, as Liebig and Deherain have demonstrated, and is therefore equivalent to an application of potash, provided the latter actually exists in the soil.

“Potash is exported in the tobacco crop to the amount of 70–80 lb. per acre yearly, and is required for the stalks to the extent of some 50 lb., making a total of 120–130 lb. As already intimated, potash does not commonly waste from the soil by washing. It is seldom found in appreciable quantity in well or drain water, and most soils absorb it and fix it so firmly that water can remove it but very slowly. It does, however, appear in the drain water from very heavily dunged fields, though in small proportion. Stable or yard manure on the average contains one-half per cent. of potash, or 10 lb. per ton. Twelve or thirteen tons of stable manure would therefore contain the potash needful to produce a crop. The dressing of 20 tons of 10 cords of stable manure, per acre, which is often employed on tobacco, is doubtless enough to fully supply the crop, and the application of additional potash is apparently quite unnecessary. The employment of potash salts upon tobacco lands would therefore seem to be uncalled for unless the amount of stable manure is greatly diminished, or its quality is very inferior. In case potash salts are to be applied, the best form to make use of is potash sulphate, of which 250 lb. contains 135 of potash. Next to this is probably potash carbonate, i. e. the ordinary potash of commerce, which contains some 70 per cent. of potash; 200 lb. of this would be sufficient for an acre. To apply it I would suggest breaking it up into small pieces and soaking it in two or three times its weight of water until the lumps crush easily, and mixing these with so much ground gypsum as will make a mass dry enough to handle.

“Kainit, which contains some 15 to 20 per cent. of potash, but also 10 per cent. or more of chlorine, is not so good for leaf tobacco, and least of all to be recommended is potassium chloride (muriate of potash) which is nearly half chlorine.

“Magnesia is an element which is abundantly provided for in stable manure, every ton of which, according to analyses on record, contains some 3 lb. of this substance.

“Lime is supplied in relative abundance in stable manure, the average ton of which contains some 15 lb. We have seen that 600 lb. of gypsum contain as much lime as the average tobacco crop: guano, dry fish, and superphosphate, each contains some 5–10 per cent. of lime. There is, furthermore, little likelihood that any soil intended for tobacco would not of itself contain enough lime to support the crop. Lime in the caustic state has, however, a value independent of its direct nutritive power, which is well worth the attention of the tobacco raiser. Of this I shall write briefly in a subsequent paragraph.

“Nitrogen in absolutely dry New England tobacco leaf ranges from 3·2 to 5·1 per cent., or 4·24 as the average. This is a larger proportion than exists in any of our ordinary field crops, except the seeds of legumes. The grain of wheat and red clover hay contain when dry scarcely 2½ per cent., and they exceed all other usually raised vegetable products, except the leguminous seeds. The pea and bean contain, when dry, 4·5 to 4·7 per cent. of nitrogen. The acreage export of nitrogen is nevertheless not large according to the data of our tables. It should be remembered, however, that the average is derived from 5 samples only.... There are reasons to suppose that this result is too low. Furthermore it is not improbable that tobacco loses nitrogen during the curing process.”

The advantages of artificial manuring have been made manifest in all branches of agriculture, and there is no doubt that the nitrogenous qualities of farmyard dung may be replaced by soda nitrate, ammonia sulphate, &c., only it must be remembered that these have not nearly the lasting effect of dung, the latter liberating its ammonia but slowly. Indeed “when a soil has been heavily dunged for a term of years, it accumulates a large quantity of nitrogen, which is comparatively inert and therefore nearly useless to crops. Quicklime assists to convert this nitrogen into the active forms of ammonia or nitrates,” hence Prof. Johnson’s suggestion that an “application of lime may sometimes be advantageously substituted for one of stable manure. In fact, it is not improbable that moderate doses of lime might be turned under with stable manure or green crops, with the effect of exalting the action of these fertilizers, and obtaining from them a larger return of nitrogenous plant food. Lime, however, gives effect to the nitrogen of the soil by causing the destruction of the organic matters—humus—in which this nitrogen lies in an inactive state. These organic matters have themselves a value independent of their nitrogen, which must be taken account of, and therefore the use of lime must be undertaken cautiously, and with an intelligent comprehension of the various effects which it may produce.”

Rotation.—A proper rotation of crops is particularly advantageous for the cultivation of tobacco, since it requires a great amount of readily accessible inorganic matter in the soil, especially potash and lime. Although the importance of cultivating tobacco in rotation is admitted, there may be circumstances that justify the growth of this crop consecutively for several years in the same field. In America, tobacco is grown successively for several years on new land, where the elements of plant food exist in such abundance that the crop may be thus cultivated without for a time showing any notable decrease in yield; it is even said that the outturn of the second year is heavier than that of the first. In Hungary and Holland, the best tobacco is grown for many years in succession on the same land. There the plan is adopted partly out of necessity and partly for convenience. The small landholder is often obliged to grow tobacco on the same field, because he has only one properly fitted for it; for convenience, he grows it every year on the same place near his homestead, to allow of the closest attention to the crop, but he manures heavily. Nessler, in Carlsruhe, cultivated tobacco during six consecutive years in the same field, without noticing any perceptible decrease in yield or quality. To admit of such a system, the soil must either be very rich in the essential elements, or be heavily manured, as is the practice in Holland. It is generally assumed that, when tobacco is grown on the same field in succession, the leaves do not become so large after the first year, but grow thicker and more gummy, and contain less water.

From the foregoing, it would appear that, although tobacco may be grown successfully on the same land uninterruptedly under special circumstances, the cultivator will find it advantageous to adopt some plan of rotation. Cereals and pulses are very well adapted for this purpose, the reason being that tobacco removes but little phosphoric acid from the soil, and thus leaves it rich in the element most necessary for the growth of cereals. It has also been found that hemp thrives particularly well after tobacco.

Judson Popenoe suggests that there “should be a good coat of clover to plough under; if the ground is naturally rich, this alone will make a good crop, but hog and stable manure, well rotted, is what the tobacco, as well as any other crop, delights in, and the more manure the better the tobacco. The plan that I am now experimenting on is, as soon as I cut my tobacco in the fall I give the ground a good harrowing, and then drill in wheat; the ground being well cultivated all the fall, is clear of weeds and mellow and needs no ploughing. In the spring I sow clover, after the wheat is off; I keep the stock off until about September, to give the clover a chance to harden and spread. I then let the stock eat as low as they want to, which drives the clover to root, and causes the crown to spread; I do not suffer stock to run on the clover during winter or spring; about the last of May or first of June I plough the clover under, which is now in blossom, and so I alternately keep two fields in tobacco and wheat, at the same time feeding the ground a crop of clover every two years; in this way I expect my land to increase in fertility all the time. The clover turned under makes food for the cut-worms, and they trouble the tobacco-plants but little.”

Selection of Sort.—The cultivator must carefully compare the requirements of the different sorts, and the means at his disposal to satisfy them, before making his selection. Though tobacco is a hardy plant, and grows under varied conditions, yet to become a remunerative crop, the plant should not be placed under circumstances very dissimilar from those to which it has been accustomed. By importing seed of a fine sort directly from its native land, the plants will not retain in the new habitat all their special qualities, unless climate, soil and treatment are nearly the same. Climate must first be considered. Fine and valuable tobacco is a product of tropical countries: in a warm and humid climate, by employing common means, tobacco may be made to yield a profit not attainable in less favoured regions. A warm, moist climate permits the selection of those sorts that command the highest prices; if to this be added a suitable soil, and proper treatment, the cultivation of tobacco yields a profit not easily obtainable from any other crop.

As the Havanna tobaccos command the highest prices, the cultivator nearly everywhere attempts to introduce and cultivate them. There is no great difficulty in raising plants of these varieties, but they speedily degenerate and form new varieties, if the climatic conditions, &c., are not favourable. Virginian tobacco was previously extensively cultivated, but has of late been frequently replaced by the Maryland kind. It is still much favoured by cultivators in temperate climates, as it does not require a high temperature. On account of its botanical characteristics, it is usually not much liked by manufacturers of cigars; some varieties, however, that have less of the marked specific characters, yield tolerably fine leaves for cigars. As the price of this tobacco is rather low, it is not so well suited for export. Hungarian tobacco is considered to be very hardy, but is less valuable than the foregoing. The leaves are generally small, and possess a peculiar aroma.

A high price is generally commanded, irrespective of the species, by those tobaccos that possess a large, smooth, thin, elastic leaf, possessing a fine golden colour and a good aroma; the ribs and veins should be thin, and the former should branch off from the midrib at nearly right angles, and should be far apart from each other. The lower the percentage of the weight in ribs, the thinner and broader the leaf, and the fewer the leaves torn, the more wrappers can be cut out of 1 lb. of tobacco, other conditions being equal, and consequently the higher is the price of the article. The cigar-manufacturer often does not appreciate the aroma so much as the other qualities. He can do nothing to improve the botanical characters: the finest aromatic leaf would be of little value to him if it were torn; but he is to a certain extent able artificially to improve defects in flavour. Of all kinds, Maryland is considered to possess the qualities that distinguish a good tobacco in the highest degree. Some of the Havanna tobaccos belong to this sort, as also the Ohio, Amersfort, Turkish, and Dutten tobaccos. Its cultivation assumes larger proportions every year, and the number of varieties and sub-varieties increases accordingly. Perhaps the finest wrappers for cigars are grown in Manilla.

On this subject, Judson Popenoe remarks that he has “cultivated various kinds of tobacco, but have come to the conclusion that what we call the Ohio seed-leaf is the best and most profitable kind for general cultivation. There are other kinds of tobacco that sometimes are profitable, and do well, but most of these do not cure out so well, nor colour so evenly, nor are they so fine and saleable as the seed-leaf. The Havanna tobacco is too small and has not the fine flavour of the imported. The Connecticut seed-leaf I believe to be identical with our Ohio seed-leaf; the difference in the climate may make a slight variation in the quality, but we plant the Connecticut seed-leaf here in Ohio, and I do not think they can be told apart.”

Schneider recommends the following varieties: “1. Connecticut seed-leaf, principally for cigar-wrappers; 2. Cuba, for fillers and wrappers; 3. Maryland; 4. Virginia, the last two principally for smoking and chewing tobacco. For snuff everything may be used, the refuse and even the stems. The Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia yield the largest crops, the Cuba the smallest but best. The first varieties yield about one thousand pounds, the latter five hundred pounds. In very favourable seasons double the amount may be raised. All tobacco-seed, which is removed from its native clime and soil, will deteriorate, and the seed must be renewed from its native place, although the seed may, when it finds favourable soil, &c., yield just as good, if not a better variety.”

In Virginia, remarks Thomas, there are “as many varieties of tobacco-seed as of corn or wheat. I will name a few: The Big Frederic, the Little Frederic, the Blue Stalk, the Brittle Stem, the Big Orinoco, the Little Orinoco, and half-a-dozen others, each having, or supposed to have, some characteristic distinguishing it from all the others. But the Brittle Stem and the Orinocos were the varieties mostly cultivated, the former for its early maturity, the latter for its comparative heaviness. There are several varieties, also, in this vicinity, such as the Brittle Stem, the Graham Tobacco, and the Cuban, but the names convey little certain information, as the same varieties bear different names in different localities. But some varieties are evidently to be preferred to others—one noted for early maturity, all things else equal, is preferable to another that ripens late. One distinguished for fineness of texture, all things else equal, is better than another of coarser fibre, &c. Upon the whole, the surest and most profitable variety is that which ripens earliest, and yields the largest number of pounds, cured, to a given number of hills planted.”

In the opinion of Perry Hull, a grower in Litchfield county, Connecticut, “the variety best adapted to our purpose is that known in this State as the Bull Tongue. The leaf is neither too long nor too short; the length and width being in such good proportion that manufacturers considered there is less waste than there is to a very long narrow leaf, or a very broad short leaf. It yields well, and ripens at least one week earlier than-many of the broader varieties. Almost any of the seed-leaf varieties will do well; but never patronize any of the humbugs sent from the Patent Office, under the name of Graham tobacco, Maryland broad leaf, &c. They are a Southern tobacco, and when grown upon that soil, make chewing-tobacco; but here it is good for nothing for that purpose, and is too coarse for cigar-wrappers.”

According to Dennis, an Indiana planter, “selection of seed depends upon the kind of land you have and the quality of tobacco you wish to raise. Rich, fertile bottom-lands will grow only heavy, strong tobacco, and it is the interest of the farmer to select that kind of seed that will produce the plant of the greatest weight; in other words, to make weight the prominent object in the result of the crop. Thinner, poorer land will produce tobacco of lighter weight, but of finer and more desirable quality, and one that will bring a correspondingly higher price. The Orinoco tobacco is raised extensively in Missouri and Kentucky for heavy tobacco, and is known in market as Kentucky Leaf. The seed for the finer qualities passes (as does the other also) under different names, but may be procured in Pike and Calloway counties, Missouri, and in Virginia; the Orinoco, and kindred kinds, in Howard and Chariton counties in Missouri. I should suggest that the seed may be procured through the agents of express-companies at Glasgow, Brunswick, and Renick for the Orinoco, and at Louisiana or Fulton for the other qualities. I would recommend the culture of the coarser, heavier kinds, for the reason that the finer quality needs much more care and experience in the handling, in order that it may go into market in a condition to command such a price as its quality, when well handled, entitles it to.”

In the words of Libhart, a Pennsylvanian farmer, the “best variety for cultivation in a high northern latitude is the Connecticut seed-leaf, as it ripens two weeks earlier than most any other variety, cures and colours better, and commands the highest price in the market. The Pennsylvania seed-leaf outstrips the Connecticut in size and weight, but owing to its requiring a longer time to mature in, is not so well adapted to climates north of 41° or 42°.”

An experienced Missouri grower, named Pursley, remarks that there “are more than twenty distinct varieties, of which I will only mention the most valuable:—The Yellow Prior, Blue Prior, Orinoco, Little Frederic, Big Frederic, Cuba, and Spanish tobacco. These are considered the most valuable in this State. The Yellow Prior and Orinoco are the most profitable.

“I prefer the Yellow Prior, as it is the easiest cultivated and is the most fine and smooth of the many varieties. Some growers prefer the Orinoco, on account of it being the heaviest. I do not for various reasons: it has large stiff fibres and ruffled stalks, which afford hiding-places for insects; it moulds easier, is harder to cure, and generally does not bring as good a price as the Yellow Prior.”

Seed.—The best and strongest plants are selected for affording seed. These are not “topped” like the remainder of the crop, and are left standing when the crop is gathered. All suckers are carefully removed from the stems, and sometimes from the leaves also. When the crop is cut, the seed-stalks should be staked, to prevent their destruction by the wind. As soon as the seed-pods blacken, the seed is ripe; the heads are then cut off below the forks of the plant, and are hung in a dry and safe place to cure. Care must be taken to gather them before frost has impaired their vitality. During leisure time, the pods are stripped from the stalks, and the seed is rubbed out by hand, and winnowed. Its vitality is proved by its crackling when thrown upon a hot stove.

Seed-beds.—A very light friable soil is necessary for the seed-beds; to obtain this, it should be broken up to a depth of 1½ ft. some months before the sowing season. A drain is dug around the beds, and the soil is utilized in raising the surface. In America, a very warm and sheltered situation, such as the south end of a barn, is selected for the seed-beds. It is a common plan there to burn a brush-heap over the ground, thus supplying potash and killing weeds. The time for sowing in America is usually from the middle of March to the 10th of April, or as soon as the ground admits of working in the spring; in India, it depends upon the locality: when the monsoon rains are very heavy, it should follow them; in other cases, it may precede them.

Unless the soil be very rich in humus, it should be heavily manured with well-preserved farmyard manure soon after breaking up. The soil of a tobacco nursery cannot contain too much organic matter; the presence of much humus will prevent, to a great extent, the formation of a surface crust, which is so detrimental to the development of the plants during their early growth, and will also facilitate the extraction of the plants when transplanting takes place. After a few weeks have elapsed, the soil should be dug over a second time, and the whole be reduced to a fine tilth. The land may now remain untouched until the sowing-time, unless weeds should spring up: these must be eradicated.

The area required for a nursery depends on the area of ground to be planted, and on the distance separating the plants in the field. About 1 sq. in. space should be allotted to each of the young plants in the nursery. Taking the number to be 7260 plants required for an acre (at 3 ft. × 2 ft.), and giving each plant 1 sq. in. of room, an area of 7000 sq. in. or 50 sq. ft. would raise plants sufficient for an acre. But as some are injured during growth, many rendered useless in lifting them for transplanting, and more needed to replace those that die after transplanting, double the number should be raised, or 100 sq. ft. of nursery bed for an acre.

The amount of seed required for an acre depends chiefly on its vitality. An ounce contains about 100,000 seeds, or sufficient for nearly 7 acres if all grew; but as even the best has not a very high percentage of vitality, ½-1 oz. is generally sown to produce the plants required for one acre.

Sowing-time having arrived, the nursery is divided into beds, most conveniently, 10 ft. long and 5 ft. wide, making 50 sq. ft. each, on which plants for ½ acre can easily be raised. As, even with a small tobacco plantation, several days are required for transplanting, all the beds should not be sown at one time, but at intervals of a few days. This will also lessen the risk of the young plants being all destroyed by a storm, insects, &c. Before sowing the seed, the soil is dug over to the depth of 6 inches, and levelled with a rake. The seed must then be sown evenly on the surface, and beaten down slightly with the hand or otherwise. The seed being very small, many cultivators mix it with ashes, or pulverized gypsum, in order to distribute it regularly over the bed. The seed must be covered only slightly, best done by strewing a little fine compost manure over it. Ants, which often destroy the seeds, may be kept off by sprinkling some ashes over the bed. Finally cut straw may be scattered over the surface. In India, to protect the nursery from the sun and rain, the whole is covered with a roof made of straw, leaves, or cloth, supported by poles, at only a few feet above the ground. The soil must be kept constantly moist, but not wet; weak liquid manure may be used for watering. Much time is saved by starting the seed in a warm room before sowing.

The plants, which will appear about a week after sowing, are very tender during the first stage of their growth, and require frequent watering through a fine rose. The straw will now prevent the water falling with any force immediately on the plants, and its tendency to wash the soil from the fine rootlets. If the plants spring up thickly, they are thinned out, when about a week or two old, leaving about 1 sq. in. for each. Those taken out may be used to fill blanks in the nursery bed, or, if more plants are taken out than are required for this purpose, they should be planted in a separate bed. It is universally acknowledged that plants transplanted when very young develop more roots, grow more vigorously, and become more hardy afterwards, than when not transplanted at this stage. When the plants are about two weeks old, they require less attention, and should be watered less frequently, to harden them before transplanting. Any weeds appearing must be removed, and injurious insects must be killed. In about 7–8 weeks after sowing, the plants will be fit for transplanting.

Bowie, a Maryland planter, gives his experience in the following words:—“After a thorough burning of brush, dig deep, and continue to dig, rake, and chop until every clod, root, and stone be removed; then level and pulverize nicely with a rake. As to the variety to plant, I think the Cuba is a very good kind for our climate. The Connecticut seed-leaf is the best, but culture has more than anything else to do with the quality. Mix 1 gill of seed for every 10 square yards with a quart of plaster or sifted ashes, and sow it regularly in the same manner that gardeners sow small seeds, only with a heavier hand; roll with a hand-roller or tramp it with the feet. If the bed is sown early, it ought to be covered with brush free from leaves; but it is not necessary to cover it after the middle of March. Tobacco-beds may be sown at any time during the winter if the ground be not too wet or frozen. The best time for sowing is from the 10th to the 20th of March, though it is safest to sow at intervals, whenever the land is in fine order for working. Never sow unless the land is in good order, for the work will be thrown away if the land be too moist or be not perfectly prepared. The beds must be kept free from grass or weeds, which must be picked out one at a time by the fingers. It is a tedious and troublesome operation, therefore you should be very careful not to use any manures on your beds which have grass or weed-seeds in them. After the plants are up, they should receive a slight top-dressing of manure once a week, sown broadcast by the hand. This manure should be composed of ½ bushel of unleached ashes (or 1 bushel of burnt turf), 1 bushel of fresh virgin woods-earth, 1 gallon of plaster, ½ gallon of soot, 1 quart of salt dissolved in 2 gallons of liquid from barnyard, and 4 lb. of pulverized sulphur, the whole well intermixed. Let a large quantity be got together early in the spring, or winter rather, and put away in barrels for use when wanted. This, and other such mixtures, have been found efficacious in arresting the ravages of the fly—both from the frequent dusting of the plants and the increased vigour which it imparts to them, thereby enabling the plant the sooner to get out of the tender state in which the fly is most destructive to it. The fly is a small black insect, somewhat like the flea, and delights in cold, dry, harsh weather, but disappears with the mild showers and hot suns of opening summer. If possible, the plants should stand in the bed from ½ inch to 1 inch apart, and if they are too thick they must be raked when they have generally become as large as 5 or 10-cent pieces. The rake proper for the purpose should be a small common rake, with iron teeth 3 inches long, curved at the points, teeth flat, and ? inch wide, and set ½ inch apart.”

Schneider, whose success as an Illinois planter has already been mentioned, expresses himself thus:—“Raising tobacco-plants from seed is somewhat similar to raising cabbage-plants, but is different in two important things: It takes considerably more time for the seed to sprout (six weeks), and, on account of disturbing the roots, cannot well stand weeding. Therefore the principal care in providing the seed-bed is, to prepare for the early starting of the seed, and to have the bed free from all weed-seeds. In the West we prepare the seed-bed in the following manner: we take a plot of land—newly cleared land is preferred—sloping southward, and protected against winds. The bed should be 4 feet broad and 8 feet long; on this we pile brush, wood, and heavy logs, sufficient to keep up a strong fire for at least one hour, and burn it. When the coals begin to die out, or before the soil is cold, the bed is cleared off, and only the fine ashes are left; then it is hoed thoroughly and as deep as the strongest heat has penetrated, after which it is raked cross and lengthwise, until the soil is entirely pulverized. Everything that might hinder the growing of the plants, and their taking out afterwards, is carefully removed. On this bed a thimbleful of seed, well mixed with a few handfuls of ashes or earth, is sown broadcast, and tramped in with the feet, or slapped with the under side of the spade or any other suitable instrument. After this, the bed is thoroughly wetted with a weak manure-water, 12 lb. of hen-droppings, or 1 lb. of soot in 10 gallons of water, and lightly covered with straw. The seed-bed does not need much attention at first, if the weather remains mild; but if there is danger of night-frosts, a layer of brush must be made, and on this a layer of straw 2 to 4 inches thick, according to the degree of frost. The straw is removed in the morning, and put on again at evening, leaving it off entirely when the nights are mild. Although the seed-bed is ready now, it must not be left to itself, and requires some care. The plants must always have sufficient moisture, and if timely rains do not fall, they must be watered with weak liquid manure as often as needed. Should weeds appear, notwithstanding all precautions, they must be removed with the utmost care. The above-mentioned quantity of seed is sufficient to raise plants for one acre.

“Whoever is in possession of a hot-bed can raise the plants much easier; he can sow later and have plants earlier and with more certainty. But even the common bed may be made into a kind of hot-bed. The burned and hoed surface soil is removed and put on one side, then one foot of fresh horse-dung is laid on the subsoil, and the surface soil put back again. Boards may be placed around, cross-pieces laid over them, and the straw covering put on these.

“The earlier the young plants are ready for transplanting the surer the tobacco crop will be. March is the latest to make the seed-bed in the open air, and June the latest for transplanting. Some time may be gained by keeping the seed in damp earth in the room, and sow it in the seed-bed just before it commences to sprout.”

Having selected a suitable location, says White, a Connecticut grower, “next consider how large a bed you will need. That depends on the surface you intend to plant out. A bed 2 rods long, by 12 feet wide, will produce a sufficient number of good plants to set an acre. On such a bed you should spread a heavy coat of good, fine, well-rotted manure, at least 2 inches thick; let it be free from straw or other litter. Then, with a good strong back, and long-handled spade (or other as you prefer), spade up the bed, mixing in the manure very fine. Have ready some fine dry brush, or the like, and spread over the whole surface; set it on fire and burn to ashes. A small quantity will answer better than a very large one, for if very much is burned, it is apt to do injury by burning the soil. The less quantity will tend to destroy any foreign seed turned up, and warm the ground. Having reduced the brush to ashes, take a fine iron or steel rake, and proceed to pulverize very finely the whole surface spaded up. After reducing it to as fine a state as possible, and having made it flat and level, leave it till the next day. Then, with your rake, carefully rake over the whole bed; it is now ready for the seed. Sow the seed on broadcast; be careful to sow it even and true. About two thimblefuls, or a little less, will be sufficient for such a bed. It is better to have too little than too much, as in the first instance, the plants will have room to form thick stalky roots and well-spread leaves, while in the latter they will be crowded with spindling tops as well as small roots. Having sowed your seed, take a good heavy garden-roller and roll the surface down hard and smooth. In the absence of a roll, a very good substitute can be made by taking a piece of 2-inch plank, say 18 inches long by 14 inches wide; in the centre, place an upright handle. With this spat the bed over, being careful to do it evenly, and to leave the surface solid and level, the reasons for which you will afterward discover in weeding and taking out plants to set in the field. This should be done in the spring, as soon as the ground will permit, say first of April, if the frost is out and the ground settled. The roll or spatter will cover the seed sufficiently without any other covering. To be able to sow the seed with the least trouble, mix it in thoroughly with wood-ashes or plaster, before sowing. To obtain plants earlier, you can mix your seed thoroughly in about a quart of light chip dirt from under your wood-shed; put it in some proper vessel, and wet to the consistence of soft putty, with water as warm as can be well borne by the hand. Set it on the mantle-shelf in the kitchen, not too near the stove or fire, but where it will keep warm. In the course of a week or ten days, the seed will have cracked the shell, and will show the small white germ or sprout. It should now be sowed broadcast very evenly, and treat as before described. If properly wet at first, it will need no more water to sprout the seed. Before sowing, pulverize the mass containing the seed, to facilitate the sowing. Having thus sown and rolled down your bed very nicely, it is well to have something to protect it from the encroachment of the fowls. For this purpose, spread a net of twine or a few brush over the surface, covering it so that they may not disturb the surface by scratching and wallowing. It may now be left till the weeds begin to make their appearance; these you will need to extract by the roots as soon as the plants can be distinguished; these last may be known by two very small nearly round leaves opening over flat on the ground. Now procure a plank or some substitute a little longer than your bed is wide, also two blocks 5 or 6 inches square, as long or longer than your plank is wide; place one on one side of the bed, the other on the opposite side; on these two blocks place your plank, and you will have a fine platform on which you can sit and weed any part, or all, of your bed, by moving it as occasion may require. To assist in pulling out the weeds, procure a moderately sharp-pointed knife, and with the same grasped in the hand with the thumb near the point, pinch out the weeds, being careful not to disturb the dirt any more than absolutely necessary. The process of weeding must be repeated as often as necessary, to keep the bed clean from weeds.”

Fig. 4.

Obviously, no frost must be allowed to reach the seedbed when once sowing has taken place. To prevent this, and for another purpose to be described presently, Perry Hull advises the construction of a straw mat, as shown in Fig. 4, which is very light to handle, easily made, and sufficiently strong to last one season. It is made “by laying a scantling (6 feet long, 1½ inches wide, ¾ inch thick) upon the barn floor; place a layer of good straight rye-straw upon it, so that the scantling will come about in the middle of the straw, then another layer with the tips the other way, that it may be of uniform thickness in all its parts (about 1½ inches thick). Place a similar scantling exactly over it, and with sixpenny nails, nail them tight; with an axe trim both edges straight, and to a width of 3 feet, and the mat is made. With these the beds should be covered every night, cold or warm; in the daytime they should be set up at the north side of the bed, at an angle of about 65 degrees, by driving crotches just inside of the bed, for the end of the scantling to rest in, the lower edge of the mat resting on the ground, outside the bed.

“The plants, as soon as they are out of the ground, which will be in a few days, require strict attention. The beds should be made high enough, so that in fair weather a little water can be applied every night. After the fourth leaf appears, manure-water should be used. Place an old barrel near the beds, and throw into it ½ bushel of hen-manure, and fill with water; after it is well soaked, use ½ pailful of it, and fill up with clear water with the chill taken off. As the plants get larger, the strength of the infusion can be increased, being careful that it is not so strong as to turn the plants yellow. As soon as the plants are large enough to be readily taken hold of by the thumb and point of a knife, they should be thinned to about 144 per square foot, and kept free from weeds. This plan is decidedly preferable to raising under glass. It is less expensive, the plants are more hardy to set out in the field, are got fully as early, and a little carelessness on a hot day will not ruin the whole. It has been my method for the past 8 years, and during that time I have never failed to have good strong plants ready for the field between the 5th and 10th of June.”

Mitjen, whose essay on tobacco-growing in Cuba has been already mentioned, recommends a system of shade frames borne on small tramway trucks, as illustrated in Fig. 5—(a) seed beds, raised above the surrounding level; (b) light pointed covers of thatch on a wooden frame, and provided with grooved wheels; (c) rails on which the frames run, facilitating their application or removal as the vicissitudes of the weather may demand.

Fig. 5.

Preparation of the Field.—Land intended to be planted with tobacco should receive several ploughings not less than 9 inches deep. As a rule, clay requires to be more deeply ploughed than sandy or loamy soil. It greatly conduces to success, if the land is allowed to lie fallow for several months before planting the crop, to admit of the proper preparation of the soil, by ploughing, rolling, harrowing, &c., and to allow the attainment of as fine a tilth as is usual in gardens. No crop will better repay the expense of proper preparation of the soil than tobacco; the fineness of the leaf and the aroma of the tobacco depend to a great degree upon this. The land should be ridged immediately before planting. The distance apart at which to make the ridges is governed by the quality of the soil and the sort of plant to be raised. With good soil, the ridges must be farther apart than in a poor one, because of producing larger leaves. The ridges should allow a passage between the rows, for the purpose of weeding, hoeing, suckering, &c., without breaking the leaves. In the lines, the plants may be 6 in.–1 ft. closer than the ridges. In some places, a plough is run at right angles across the ridges before planting, at the distance at which the plants have to stand in the lines, thus forming small hills on which the seedlings are planted.

Planting.—Planting should take place only in the evening (or even at night in India), unless the weather be cloudy, when it may be performed during the whole day. Some hours before commencing to transplant, the nursery should be thoroughly watered, to facilitate the removal of the plants, without tearing their roots. If the plants are of even size, so that all can be removed, the best plan is to take them out with a spade, or trowel, leaving a lump of soil on each. But in most cases, it will be necessary to take up each plant separately; this should be done very carefully, holding with the thumb and forefinger as near as possible to the roots, and drawing out the plants, if possible, with a little soil adhering to their roots., The plants are taken at once in a basket to the field for planting. An attendant going between two ridges places a plant on each hill, right and left. One attendant is sufficient for two planters, who follow immediately. The planting is nearly the same as with cabbages, but requires more care, the plants being more tender, and their roots and leaves springing nearly from the same point, they are more difficult to handle. The plants should be placed in a hollow made on each hill, which will serve as a reservoir for the water to be applied, and also afford some shade.

In India, the plants are watered immediately after planting; they should also by some means be shaded during the first few days, which can easily be done when only a small area is planted, but is rather difficult to manage on a large scale. In the latter case, the shade afforded by planting in a slight cavity must suffice. If the plants have been taken from the nursery with some soil adhering to their roots, and are kept sufficiently moist during the first few days, few of them will die. When the weather is dry, water should be applied at morning and evening, and after that time, once daily until the plants have taken root, after which, occasional waterings, varying with soil, weather, and kind of plant, must be given. In dry weather, and with a soil poor in humus, one watering every second or third day may be necessary, whereas with a soil rich in organic matter, and in a moist atmosphere, watering may be entirely dispensed with. During the first few days, the water is applied with a watering-pot, held very low, otherwise the soil would be washed from the plant-roots, and expose them to the direct rays of the sun, causing death. The arrangement of the plants in what is known as quincunx order, as shown in Fig. 6, is generally adopted.

Fig. 6.

This part of the operations connected with tobacco-growing is described at some length by Mitjen so far as the practice rules in Cuba. His translator remarks that “as soon as the land has been prepared, it should be furrowed at a distance of 1 yard between each two furrows. This operation should be simultaneous with the planting, and should be done, if possible, after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and on cloudy days, so as to prevent the recently set plants from being scorched by the sun. The furrows should run more or less from north to south, as, by making them in this direction, the plants are less injured by the sun, or the strong winds which generally blow about the planting season. Immediately, and behind the man who is furrowing, another should follow, placing the plants at every ½ foot all along the furrow, and behind them another should at once set the plants, the first walking in the distance, or bank, and the other in the furrow. The one should open the land with his right hand, behind which, with his left, the other will place the plant, being careful neither to double the stalk nor the roots, and, letting the ground fall directly on the roots, should press it lightly on them with his hand. The plants should be buried half-way up the stalk, or, if the plant is small, it should be covered to where the leaves spread. Care should be taken that the plants have no dry mould sticking to their roots, and that no ground from the furrow falls in the centre or sprout, and when the planting is going on, the ground should not be too wet. The plants should be set on the side of the furrow, and on that side which is next the setting sun, so that the rising sun may strike upon them, and they may be somewhat protected from the rays of the afternoon sun.

“Generally the plants wither after being transplanted, but on the third or fourth day after they are set they begin to shoot up, and on the fifth day or the sixth, those that have not taken root can be distinguished. Then, and without loss of time, others should be supplied, this operation being repeated at the end of another 5 or 6 days, so that the whole field may be well filled with living plants. This is one of the most important operations for securing a good crop, because the fields will require as much cultivation and labour bestowed on them if they have vacant spots as if they were full and regularly planted, and, of course, the yield will be less, besides many other evils well known to practical vegueros.

“According to the best opinions admitted among vegueros, one man can take care of 12,000 tobacco plants, and prudence dictates that no more land should be planted than that which can be well attended to, as experience shows that in exceeding this number for each man, instead of proving advantageous to the planter, it is frequently the cause of considerable loss. Excessive planting produces, at once, an increase of labour, and if, unfortunately, a hard year should occur, occasioned by caterpillars or other causes, it almost always happens that the man who has only planted 12,000 plants, for each labourer he can command, produces four times as much tobacco, and of a better quality, than he who may have planted from 25,000 to 30,000 plants per labourer.

“When the plantations are out of proportion to the strength of the labour which can be counted on, all the work becomes slowly and badly done, and these faults most sensibly prejudice both the yield and the quality of the crop, and consequently the interest of the planter. Immediately after supplying the fields, the tobacco plants should be carefully inspected, almost daily, in order to exterminate the caterpillars of every kind that may be found, and this operation should always be made during the morning, because in the heat of the day the worms are accustomed to hide themselves from the sun, and the wind agitates the leaves too strongly to permit them to be handled without risk of being broken or torn, especially when they are somewhat large.”

After-cultivation.—After the plants have once taken root, they grow rapidly.rapidly. They are hoed when about 6–9 in. high, and the soil is drawn from the furrows to raise the hills, maintaining a depression round the stems. If the soil is not very rich, a special manure should be applied at this stage of growth. The best manure generally will be nitre in a liquid state, which can be applied in the depression around the plants with a watering-pot. By applying it in solution and close to the plant, less is required than when spread over the whole field. Some weeks afterwards, another hoeing and heaping of earth round the plants will be necessary. It is most difficult to say the number of hoeings which may be required by a tobacco crop. The general rule to be followed is to keep the soil loose, friable, and free from weeds. The more organic matter the soil contains, the more will it remain loose and friable; the less organic matter, the more waterings will be required, which causes the soil to crust over, and to assume a close texture, and necessitates frequent hoeings. As long as the plants have not spread much, the hoeing may be done by a cultivator, followed by some men to perform the heaping. Insects which attack the tobacco must be carefully sought for and killed at once. They can easily be discovered in the mornings; if not killed, they may destroy the whole crop in a few days. Turkeys are invaluable for their grub-eating propensities.

Fig. 7.
The Tobacco Worm.

Worms, in the American phraseology, here generally known as caterpillars, are the bÊte noire of the tobacco grower. The most common is highly destructive also to the potato and tomato foliage. The worm as it comes from the egg is so small as to be unobserved, but having an enormous appetite, it devours rapidly, and soon grows to a great size. When not feeding, it lifts up the head and fore-part of the body, and remains apparently lifeless. From its resemblance in this position to the Egyptian Sphinx, LinnÆus gave the name Sphinx to the genus. The larva is of a light green colour, with whitish oblique stripes, and has a horn upon the rear end of the body. Though it is repulsive in appearance, it is perfectly harmless to touch, and may be picked off with the hands without fear. After it has reached its full size, it leaves the scene of its ravages and goes into the earth, where it throws off its skin and becomes a brown-coloured chrysalis. The curious projection, like a handle, at the end of the chrysalis, is a sheath which holds the tongue of the future moth. The moth or perfect insect is fully 2 in. long in the body and the spread of its wings reaches 5 in. It is of a grey colour, with orange-coloured spots on each side of the body. As there are five of these spots on each side, it is called Sphinx quinque-maculatus, or Five-spotted Sphinx. The moths may be seen towards night flitting about the flowers, from which they suck the juices by means of their remarkable tongue, which is 5–6 inches long. When the tongue is not in use, it is closely coiled up and hidden between the two feelers. From the manner of their flight and feeding, they are frequently mistaken for humming-birds, and are called “humming-bird moths,” and “horn-blowers.” The moths should always be destroyed if possible; by so doing we prevent the production of several hundreds of most destructive worms. Naturalists make one or two other species, which closely resemble the Five-spotted Moth, and are only distinguished by characters which would not be noticed except by the entomologist.

Judson Popenoe gives the following advice with regard to these pests. “As soon as worms appear, which is generally when the leaves are as big as a man’s hand, go over the tobacco, looking carefully at every plant. The worms usually stay on the under side of the leaf; if you see a hole in the leaf, no matter how small, raise it up and you will generally find a worm under it. Worming can not be done too carefully. Miss one or two worms on a plant, and before you are aware of it the plant is nearly eaten up. When you find a worm, take hold of it with the thumb and forefinger, giving your thumb that peculiar twist which none but those who are practised in it know how to do, and put the proper amount of pressure on, and my word for it you will render his wormship harmless. Worming has to be continued until the tobacco is cut; the last worming to immediately precede cutting and housing.”

Schneider remarks that “from the first starting of the tobacco plant, it has its enemies. First appears a cutworm that works in the soil and eats the roots off. Then comes a little caterpillar which enjoys itself on the young leaves, and lastly the beautiful and large tobacco-worm, which eats into the leaf, and in a short time leaves nothing but the leaf-stems and stalk. The only remedies against these enemies are the vigilance and industry of the planter—looking after them, digging up, picking, and destroying once or twice a day, or as often as there are any traces of them. Children, to whom premiums are offered, will be very successful in destroying them. A herd of turkeys, if given access to the tobacco-field, are a very valuable help. A negro from South Carolina told me a few days ago, that a solution of blue vitriol in water, sprinkled over the plants, will kill the worms. The remedy may be worth trying. Of course the solution must be made weak enough, so that it will not destroy the plants as well as the worms.”

On the same subject, White recommends the planter on the “next, or at farthest, the second morning after having set your plants, go over to see that the worms do not eat up one-half of them. You can tell where they are and have been, by seeing a plant with a single leaf, and sometimes the whole plant eaten off and drawn down into the hole occupied by a large brown or black worm; you will see little ant-hills like, and round holes in the ground; by poking around a little in the dirt, you will find a worm very near the mouth of these little holes. Destroy it, and all you can find, and thus save your crop. This searching for worms must be kept up till they cease to do mischief. All plants missing in the field should be renewed from the bed at the first opportunity. The morning is the best time to find the worms, as they are near the surface of the ground; later, they retire into the ground to appear again near sundown, and work during the night and early morning.”

Thomas describes tobacco worms as “hatched from eggs deposited by what is called the ‘tobacco fly.’ It is a large, dusky-brown, winged miller, nearly as large as a humming-bird. It lays its eggs on fair evenings and moonlight nights in July and August. It can be seen almost any clear evening, among what are called ‘Jimson-weeds,’ sucking the flowers. The eggs will hatch out in 24 hours, and the worms commence eating when less than ½ inch long, and continue to eat till they attain the length of 4–5 inches. One worm, in 6 weeks, will destroy a plant so completely as to render it utterly valueless. This pest is vastly more numerous in some seasons than in others. Four years ago there were scarcely any; but for the last three years they have been destructively numerous. The worming of the crop, when they are numerous, is, by far, the most disagreeable and tedious labour attending it. Much of the value of the crop depends upon the care or inattention of performing this part of the work. The crop may have been planted in good time—ploughed, hoed, primed, suckered, topped, cut, and cured well; yet it may have been so riddled by worms as to be comparatively good for nothing in market; hence, they must be picked off and destroyed, and that promptly.”

Topping and Suckering.—The plants will commence to flower about two months after planting, when 2–7 feet high. When the flower-buds appear, they must be broken off, and with them the top and bottom leaves. By breaking off the flower-buds at an early date, the sap that would be used in the formation of these organs flows to the leaves, which thereby increase in size, and the outturn becomes much heavier than when the plant is allowed to flower. But it is generally admitted that the leaves lose much in aroma. To what extent the early removal of the flower-buds impairs the quality has not been properly investigated. It is very probable that the greater yield does not always compensate for the loss in quality. The bottom leaves are generally of inferior quality, small, torn, and dirty. The number of leaves to be left on the plant varies greatly, according to species, quality of soil, and method of cultivation. The minimum may be placed at 6, the maximum at 22. The only rule to be observed is to retain as many leaves as the plants are able to mature. Soon after the plants have been topped, suckers appear in the axils of the leaves; these should be broken off as soon as they come, at least they should not be allowed to grow longer than 4 inches. If the suckers are not removed soon after their appearance, the size of the leaves will be seriously impaired. After the plants are half-grown, great care must be taken when going through the lines, whether for the purposes of hoeing, watering, or suckering, &c., not to tear the leaves. In India, hoeing and suckering should be performed only when the leaves have lost part of their turgescence, attained at night. Insects, however, must be killed during the morning and evening; at other times, they are not easily found. Leaves which are torn are not fit for cigar-wrappers, and must often be thrown on the refuse heap as valueless, even if well developed and of good colour.

The plants commence to ripen about three months after being planted; this is indicated by the leaves assuming a marbled appearance, and a yellowish-green colour. The leaves also generally become gummy, and the tips bend downwards. It is considered that tobacco intended for snuff should have attained more maturity than tobacco for smoking. Nessler found that the less ripe leaves contained more carbonate of potash, and burnt consequently better, than the more ripe ones, but the total amount of potash was larger in the latter than in the former; cigars made from less ripe leaves kept the fire when lighted for a shorter time than those made from more ripe leaves.

In the words of Judson Popenoe, the “tobacco is ready to top when the button (as the blossom or top of the stalk is called) has put out sufficiently to be taken hold of, without injury to the top leaves. As tobacco is not regular in coming into blossom, it is the usual practice to let those stalks that blossom first, run a little beyond their time of topping, and then top all that is in button as you go. There is no particular height to top at, but as a general thing 16 to 18 leaves are left; judgment is necessary to determine where to top; if topped too high, 2 or 3 of the top leaves are so small as not to amount to much; if topped low, the tobacco spreads better; if just coming out in top, reach down among the top leaves, and with thumb and forefinger pinch the top or button off below 2 or 3 leaves; if well out in top, break off several inches down from the button and 4 or 5 leaves below it. As soon as the tobacco is topped, the suckers begin to grow; one shoots out from the stalk at the root of each leaf, on the upper side. When the top suckers are 3–4 inches long, the suckering should be done; with the right hand take hold of the top sucker, with the left take hold of the next, close to the stalk, and break them off, and so proceed, using both hands, stooping over the stalk, taking care not to injure the leaf. Break the suckers about half-way down the stalk, the balance being too short to need removing until the second suckering. In about 2 weeks from topping, the tobacco is ready to cut; now give it the last worming and suckering, breaking all suckers off down to the ground, and remove every worm, if you don’t want your tobacco eaten in the sheds.”

Another process, called “priming” by Schneider, is thus described by him. “The object of priming is to break off the leaves that come out too near the ground, which, when large, lie flat on it, and therefore rot or get dirty. This work should be done early, the sooner the better, so that the plant does not lose much strength by their growing. These leaves must not be torn off, especially not downward, because the plant would be injured, and instead of throwing the strength gained into the other leaves, it would be thrown away to heal the wound. The distance from the ground at which this priming should be done, depends upon the variety grown and upon the time at which the work is done: 4–6 inches is the right distance. This priming is not done by every one. One farmer may practise it, while his neighbour does not; but sorts the lower leaves separately, and sells them as so-called ‘lugs,’ for which he gets a little over half the price of the good upper leaves. Those who do not prime, must generally top lower, or they must risk that the whole plant, or at least the upper leaves, will not mature fully.

“Topping is done to throw the strength, which would go to develop seeds, into the leaves. It must, therefore, be done as early as the seed-buds show themselves, if not earlier. This work must be done, and the question is, how to do it. If there are but few leaves on the plant, even these will not ripen, if it is not topped; if there are many, then the grower has the choice either to break off the flower-stalk only or to take off one or more leaves also. This should be done in answer to the questions: 1st. Is there time enough to ripen even the upper leaves fully? and, 2nd, Are the plant and the soil strong enough to ripen all leaves, even the upper ones? The answers to these queries will decide the way of topping. If yes, he takes off the flower-stalk only; if no, he tops to 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16 leaves, according to his judgment, that is, he allows so many leaves to remain as will have a good fair chance of reaching maturity.”

As Bishop remarks, cultivators are not agreed on the time and place for topping tobacco plants. “Some favour the plan of topping as soon as the blossom-buds appear, others prefer to wait until in blossom. I think there is no harm in letting the earliest plants bloom before being topped, but after once beginning, they should be broken off as soon as the buds begin to look yellow, and the latest plants as soon as the buds appear. A new beginner will be apt to top the plants too high. The object is to ripen and develop as many leaves as the plant can support; if topped too high, the top leaves are small, and when cured are nearly worthless, and the other leaves are not as large or heavy, whereas, if topped too low, then you lose one, two, or three leaves, which the plant might have supported. As a general rule, a plant just in blossom should be topped down to where the leaves are full 7 inches wide, leaving on the stalk from 15 to 18 leaves. This will leave the stalks about 2½ feet high in good tobacco. Later in the season, top the plants sooner and lower. Let as many of the earliest plants as will be wanted remain for seed. One plant will furnish seed enough to put out 5 acres, at least. These should be wormed and suckered like the rest, only leaving the suckers above where you would ordinarily break it off, were you to top it. The piece should now be looked over every other day, to break off the suckers and catch the worms. This should be done as soon as the dew is off in the morning, and towards night, as the worms are eating then, and can be found more readily, while in the heat of the day they remain hid. Great care should be taken not to break off the leaves while going through it, as they are nearly all wasted before the crop is ripe. As soon as the top is broken off, the sap is thrown into the leaves, causing them to expand rapidly. In the meantime suckers will start out just above where each leaf joins the stalk; these must be broken off, or the growth of the leaf will be checked, as the sap will be thrown into these young sprouts. Those nearest the top will start soonest, and will require breaking off twice before the plant is ripe; those at the bottom must all be broken off. This is the hardest and slowest work of all. Not only will these suckers check the growth of the plants, but if allowed to grow will soon break or pry off the leaves, or cause them to grow out at right angles from the stalk, rendering them more liable to be broken off. It is a good plan to have a piece of corn on the north side of a piece of tobacco, or, at least, two or three rows, to shield the growing plants from winds.”

Priming is defined by Thomas as “pulling off the bottom leaves to the number of 4 or 5,” and he says that any plant large enough to be topped ought to be primed first. All conditions being favourable, he considers that in Ohio, a “tobacco plant will ripen in as many weeks, from the time of topping it, as there are leaves left on the stalk. Consequently, if the topping is done early, it can be topped high, if later, it must be done lower, and if still later, still lower. Planters differ very much at this point. Some will top as high as 16 leaves, others 10, and a great many at 8. My own opinion is, that a plant topped at 10 will weigh as much as one at 16, topped at the same time, and on the same kind of land. About a week after a plant has been topped the suckers will begin to grow. A sucker is only an auxiliary branch which shoots out at the junction of the leaves to the stalk. If not removed, they will grow, and bloom, and ripen seed, and in doing so they will ‘suck’ the parent-stem of much of its vitality. When the crop of suckers are about 1 inch long they can be pulled or rubbed off, and it should surely be done. In about a week or 10 days a second crop of them will appear. These must also be promptly removed, and then the third crop will show itself, which must be similarly treated. The longer they are permitted to remain on the plant, the more they retard its development, and delay its maturity.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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