Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-10-21
Premium Essay On the Culture
OF Bright Tobacco.

received the premium offered by the Gran
vile (Va,) Agricultural Society:
The first thing to be looked to in growing
tobacco, is to provide plants enough to "pitch
the crop" III good time, before the summers
sun shall have so completely cvaporatcd the
moisture from the ground rs to require frc
qucnt showers to insure 90 good stand" In
attention to this all important requisite often
causes failure of the crop, aud leads the
planter to complain of Providence, when, in
factyhc only is to be blamed.
But the question arises. "ITow shall we
insure plants in good time 2" The best plan,
in my judgment, is to look rather to the
texture than to the fertility of the soil. a
spot in the woods where the land is ola soapy
appearance neither too stiff nor too light but
with due admixturc Of sand, and near the
base of dcclivity looking towards the south
or southeast is to be referred. Make your
cow.pen on the ground thus selected, and
made very rich. When you remove the cat
tie from one of these places, cut down the
bushes aud trees from it., cover the ground
thickly with the brush to protect it from the
sun, split the wood and throw the limbs on
the brush, stack the wood near the place, SO
as to allow it to dry. AS soon as you shall
have finished housing your corn in Novcm-
Der, set fire to the brush aud limbs; and,
having previously prepared wood for burning
tho ground, perform that operation in the
al Acc fbo ,,3o ob.01 bnv n
been sufficiently burned, rake off the Goals
and coulter it very deep both ways with a
sharp, narrow coulter; then rake it carefully,
taking care to get out all the loose roots /;
spread over it moderate quantity guano, lay
i. of n beds four feet wide, trench the ground
properly around the patch, SO as to prevent
the outside water from passing through it,
and fence it in. Having thus prepared it as
nicely rs if you intended to SOW it then, leave
it until tho first snow in December, when you
should scatter your seed regularly over the
white surface in the proportion of two table
spoonsuls to one hundred square yards. AS
soon as the land shall be dry enough, after
the melting of the snow, tread it firmly, and
cover it thckly with tho fine dust from coal
kiln, over which a.thick coat Of fine straight
brush should be thrown.
The coal dust being black is an absorbent
of heat, and thus keeps the ground warmer
than it would otherwise be, and SO pushes tho
rlant forward. If there be no snow in De
ccmber, the seed should be sown about tho
first of January, and the ground we'll troddct
when dry and otherwise treated as above re
commended. Hc who will try the coulterins
process, will be astonishcd at the great mum
Der Of roots which will be extracted, ant
which, if left in the ground, serve only t,
keep it open, and thus to expose the delicate
plants to be destroyed by the frost. lie vii
also be gratified to find that the deep anc
close breaking Of the land will keep th'
ground moist in dry weather, which will dcs
troy the plants in beds treated in the usua
way and scratched with a grubbing hoe O
mattock About the first of March the bed
should be rcsown with about half the quantit
fsecd used in the first sowing-'the broa,
leaf Oronoko" is preferred by most of ou
good planters IN this ncighborhood, which i
famed for producing the finest tobacco in tn
world. The freezing process through whicl
the land must necessarily pass in winter, an'
by which tho plants are often thrown on o
near the surface and destroyed, will be mucl
less injurious under the management here re
commended than any other. Whenever tn
grourd is thus affected by the freezing, tn
beds should be uncovered and kept down, b
passing over them, as often as may be requil
on, heavy roller made of gum or othc
heavy wood. After each rolling, they shou
be again covered with coal dust before til
brush is returned to them. Plant bed
treated in this way may be, safely relied o
to furnish supply Of good plants Soul
eyn Planter.
KEEP PLoudHINa UNDER.--A Georgi
farmer, in 1865 fenced in field of ten acre
land worn out, and ploughed it in Jun
and sowed it to Wheat in September, an
at harvest time got four bushals to the acr'
The next season there was q fair Drop
weeds These were ploughcd under an
wheat tried again. The yield per acre, WI
niue bushels The same process the succeed
log year produced seventeen bushel per acr
aud the last year ,twenty.seyon bushol.