Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-02-16

PsErARAJfoS or ToBAcco BEps.-As
this is the, season for making Tobacco
Beds. we phblish the following sugges-
tons by y correspondent Of the Anne
Arundel Advertiser:
Now that the time has arrived for the
commencepent Of another crop. propose
to lay bcfote your readers few practical
hints in rcfFence 10 the first work which
usually eng rs the farmers attention in
this los.li1 80 sLs preparation and SOW
most important of all the operations con-
nected with the raising Of tobacco and
upon its proper performance depends the
success of the crop. Without an carly
and abundant supply Of plants no one can
expect to be successful. Ii will not do 10
rely on your neighbor. for no farmer ever
thi9ks of giving plants away until he has
finished planting himself. and by that time
the season has we'll nigh passed. A piece
Of ground in the woods, with a southern
exposure. should be selected. in order tina,
the full benefit Of the suns rays may be
obtained. The earlier termination of the
seed and protection from the frost is thus
secured. The soil should be loamy and
contain good proportion of vegetable
mould. II should also be as free as pos
sible from grass, and, in order to avoid
this, it is better to select spot we'll COW
cred with leaves. The ground should be
tolerably dry before beginning the work
otherwise it will not pulverizc sufficiently
and will be sure to bake and become hard
The wood and underground having been
cut and cleared away. the leaves and lit
ter should be raked and burned. Ifthere
is plenty Of seasoned brush at hand, thi.
should now be laid upon the ground in
pretty thick layers and also burned
Some dispense with burning the bed nj.
together, but we believe that il will repay
the trouble provided the brush is conve.
nient. The destruction of the germs OF
grass seed and the valuable addition Of
potash contained in the ashes. arc the two
important points obtained by this proce-
dure The ground should now be dug
up to the depth OF two or three inches,
deep digging is Objectionable on accoun,
of mixing too mnch Of the poor subsoi
with the surface M uld. and chopped
fine All roots should be taken off and
the ground we'll raked down. About a
half bushel of Peruvian Guano to each
400 SD yds. should be sown on the sur
face, and, if the ground is not very fer
tile, two or three ox-cart loads Of well rot.
ted manure should be added and the whole
chopped in. The bed is now ready for
seeding. The quantity of seed depends
| upon the time of sowing ard the quality
Of the ground. If sown early or in very
sandy soil more seed are required. Usti=
ally half gill of seed to each 400 So yds.
will be sufficient They should be mixed
with ashes or plaster and well stirred, "a
insure an even distribution, otherwise they
will come up in lunches. After sowing
they should be lightly rakcd in and the
bed trodden down by foot or, what is still
better, rolled down smoothly with hand
roller. II should now be lightly covered
with pine brush to protect the young plant:
from frost. and ditch made at the upper
side of the bed, if on an inclination, t.
prevent the water from washing over it
If stock are running at large in the same
field i. should also be we'll fenced in. b,
following the above directions an early
and abundant supply of plants may be cal
culated on. provided they escape the raw
ages of the Az. of which We shall hav,
something to say at future day."