Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1846-11-20
From tAe Clarkesyille lGa,l .Esis.

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SPANISH TOBACCO-ITS CULTIVATION
We do not think that we can do our agricul-
tural friends 4 greater service than by calling
their attention to the cultivation OF this tobac-
CO, which has already found its way north, as
high as the Connecticut river, on which nume-
rous farms have abandoned the growth of ey-
cry other product, this having been found the
most profitable. With our milder cline we
should certainly not fear to fail where our ac-
tive but less favored northern brethren have so
well succeeded. To ensure success we must,
however profit blythe experience of those who
are best acquainted with its culture, and not
hold out with mulish obstinacy, to our own
preconceived opinions. We will present our
readers with the method generally pursued in
Cuba, where the best article is grown, and we
do not hesitate to promise those who will i'm
ltate their manner Of cultivating and curing
the plant, a profitable return for their labor
Having prepared bed of rich loan or new
earth, by breaking all the Jumps, and sprink-
ling it with little ashes, Just before show
er OF rain, scatter the seed over the surface,
and let the rain beat them in. A frame work,
couple OF feet high, should cover the bed,
and boughs OF trees Or a cloth spread daily
over 1t to protect the seed from the hot sun,
exposing the bed TO It's rays only in the NOR
ming and late in the afternoon. This must be
continued until the plants are two or three
inches high They should then be planted in
the field about two Or three feet apart, accor-
ding TO the richness OF the soil, and when the
buds appear On the stem the same should be
nlppei of, leaving six or eight leaves to each
plant the sprouts also should be removed I'M
til the leaves become ripe and fit to be gather
ed. This is known by what are called bis
tiers appearing over the whole leaf, like vel
lowish blotches, as if the under and upper
sides of the leaf and somewhat separated, and
the intervening substance had withered The
stem Is then cut close to the earth, the lower
and half decayed leaves stripped off and thrown
aside; and the remainder cut in pairs, attached
| to the stem, and thrown on branches or bas-
kets, so that they do not touch the earth
They are now left exposed to the sun for a.
| bout an hour Or until deprived of their brittle
ness, and then hung on poles in the shade in
an airy, dry building, where they are allowed
to be until quite dry, both the leaf and the
piece of central stalk attached to each pair
If mildew appears on them, they must be ex-
posed for and hour to the sun, which will kill
the fungus. When quite dry, damp day
must be selected when the leaves will lose
their crispness, and the whole separated from
the stalks and tied in bundles of twenty leaves
each, be laid in pile with their stems outside
AMI heavy weight applied to the top The
Spaniards sprinkle the dried leaves first with
decoction OF orange leaves, or of vanilla, OF
of tobacco stems, which they believe adds to
the favor of the leaf but which we think We
~ questionable. The mass is allowed to
sweet in the pile for three months, when the
tobacco loses It's acrid oil, and that riuening oil
the leaf is produced that renders fhe peculiar
perfume, when burned, more perfect Care
must be taken not TO cut the tobacco too soon
after heavy rain, which dilutes too much the
| oily glandulaf secretion OF the leaf in which
lis perfume consists, and still greater care
must be taken TO avoid more exposure to the
/ sun than is sufficient to render the leaves sui