Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-03-12

. s.eeo in Aisns5o'..
Dear Ainnssotian Readers 1t is almost
planting time again; and / therefore wish to
recall to your minds what the NINNEsorlAS
said last spring in regard to the Importance
of Minnesota Farmers raising upon our rlcn
lands, enough at least of TOBACCO, to enable
us to pay, soith the ,ceed itself, instead OF with
twenty or thirty thousand dollars OF hard cash
for that amount which our own people W'II
consume of the COMPOUNDED stuff when manu-
featured into the shape of Havana and imita.
ton Havana Cigars, or into the forms of Plug,
Twist, Pig Tail, Fine-C Cut, and Tin-Foil Chew.
ing Tobacco, or in the way of Meerschaum
smoking Tobacco.
While the Connecticut Valley and the
Mountains of Pennsylvania can produce ex.
cellent Tobacco, which commands high prices
in the market-the crop averaging in the Con-
necticut Valley 1400 pounds to the acre, and
bringing from 1920 to $500 per ton-it is the
supremest of follies for us to be draining our
pockets as State and IS a People of heavy
amount of cash annually, which might be saw
ed to us by the production of the Plant our
selves upon our own fertile soil.
That we can easily raise the weed on the
rich and fat virgin lands Of Minnesota, is be-
yond dispute.
Last season, at the suggestion Of the
MINNEsorIAN, many tried the experiment Of
its cultivation on small scale, with invariable
success in every instance that We have heard
Of. 80.
Why, indeed, should any one have doubted
its succeeding9
If New England and mountain Pennsyf-
vania produce Tobacco, what obstacle is there
in the soil or climate of Minnesota to its sue
cessful growth here also? The answer must
be, that there is none. 1t has been well OBJ
served that it will come to perfection wherever
Corn will grow, and we raise in Minnesota
abundance of Corn.
To be sure, admit that the culture of To-
bacco is laborious but then it pays in its
price for all the labor bestowed a compara-
y
value; and in addition to this the mode of its
cultivation is quite simple.
A brief description of the process Of raising
it will show this to be the case.
In the first place, if you intend growing To
bacco on large scale, you make, as prelm-
mary, what is called Plant Bed.
For this you must select piece OF rich
new ground, with warm exposure, on south
or southeastern slope, and sheltered by woods,
or, if possible in them; for forest mould is
the natural soil of the Plant-a fact which
should be made note of by the Farmers Of
the " Big Woods of this State, in whose pre-
cincts lie Carver, Scott, LIE Sueur, Blue Earth,
Rice, Waseca and other counties.
But though desirable, forest mould is not
indispensable for the Plant Bed. Any new
and light mould soil, rich in potash naturally,
or which has been we'll impregnated with ma
nure, will answer the purpose almost equally
well. .
Having selected the ground for your bed,
you will proceed to put it in the most conf
plete filth. You will pillow it thoroughly and
deeply every root you will grub out and all
rubbish you will remove from it. When you
have got the earth in the Plant Bed to a STAN
dard of fineness equal to the fineness of garden
mould, you will then proceed to top-coat it
with the special manure which is the chief
food, in voracious quantities, Of the Tobacco
Plant. This is potash, which it draws largely
from both the ground and the atmosphere
To obtain this special manure, you proceed in
this fashion, Over the finely TILED bed pile
brush and leaves, or straw and other burn
able rubbish, to the thickness Of two or three
feet, and then set the whole on fire and re-
duce thoroughly to ashes; of which potash
being the main constituent, in this simple man.
ner you apply directly to the bed the very
food the young plants will most need for their
quick and vigorous growth. Fresh house
ashes, should you have enough of them to
spare, or especially ashes from lime-kin,
would answer as substitute for firing brush,
&C., if literally sowed over the bed. But, in
whatever way this top dressing of special
manure is applied, it will be requisite after its
application to again stir up the bed lightly with
pillow, cultivator, or harrow, SO as to mix
the manure with the soil somewhat, taking
care, however, at this stage of the proceedings,
not to dig or stir so deep as to turn under the
surface soil.
Having completed the tiIage of your Plant
Bed, gotten it thoroughly fine, and applied
manures, general and special, and mixed them
with the soil in the manner described, you
next proceed to so,o your Tobacco Seed-about
common clay pipe-iull to 16 square yards
of ground. This done, the bed is to be trod-
ded lightly over or pressed with shovel or
hoe, to fix the seeds, in the earth.
The work on the Plant Bed which have
described, should have promised ought to
be attended to the moment the frost is out of
the gound-the earlier the better and then,
Immediately after the seed is sown, it is ad-
visable to cover the whole bed over moder-
ately thick with bushes or straw, as protec-
ton to the plants from late frosts. When all
reasonable apprehension of danger is over
from this cause, and the plants have come
fully out of the ground, it is recommended to
frequently through slightly manure them
with strong manure made fine, and this in
creased in quantity as they grow in size, and
in proportion as they are able to bear it,
Wedding the plants frequently and carefully
by hand, avoiding bruising them, is another
important item necessary to the production,
quickly, of strong, vigorous and thriving plants
which is the object Of all this care, prepare