The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-07-23
TOBACCO CULTURE.
Printing, Topping, Worming and Sucker
erinn. the Tandar. E2Iants

Printing, Topping, Worming and Sucker
ering the Tender Plants.
Under this head there is wide diff
ference of opinion. Breaking off the
small and inferior leaves of the plant
near the ground is called printing"
which operation is done along with the
topping" if done at all. There are
advantages for and against printing,
but all resort to topping -plucking out
the seed bud and adjacent small leaves
with the thumb and finger. Some con-
tend that pulling off the lower leaves
saps the plants and retards the growth
if the weather is dry; that permitting
the lower leaves to remain on the
stalks protects the upper ones from
sand and grit, makes them cleaner and
therefore more salable. Sand and grit
are the terror of the tobacco buyer.
On the other hand. it Is contended by
some that by pulling off the lower
leaves, which are generally useless,
the remaining leaves receive more nu-
triment and contain more wax, oil and
gum, and that the lower leaves harbor
worms and make the wOrming process
more tedious.
number of plants begin to button for
seed before commencing to top. Top
ping should be the work of experienced
and trusty hands-men who can top,
leaving any required number of leaves
on plant without counting. The Sc
cret of this-no longer a secret to the
initiated-is, that the topper soon
learns to know that, counting the bot
tom leaf and the leaf that hangs over
it in the third tier going upward, make
nine leaves, including both top and
bottom leaves. Fixing this in his
mind, the topper has only to add to or
deduct from this index leaf marking
nine, to leave any desired number of
leaves on each plant with certainty
and without counting. Young man,
if you don't know how, get some
old fellow to show you. Topping,
you will find, is slow bust
ness if you have to count the
leaves on all the plants topped. If the
| plants are not s'primed," then the bot
tom leaf must be fixed by the eve, look
/ ing upward for the leaf in the third
tier, which hangs over it. to catch the
one as before. If printing is done,
! don't err in pulling off too many leaves.
/ No regular rule can be given. so the
/ planter must Judge for himself. The
! reason given for waiting until many
/ plants are ready to be topped is mainly
/ that more plants NAV ripen together,
! and be ready for the knife at the same
/ time. This is an advantage that APP
/ plies with strong force to all tobacco
! intended for fine curing. The number
| of leaves to be left on each plant varies
| according to the time thework is done,
| early or late, the appearance and pros
: Il - 1oo Mo +ho
! season, whether propitious or unfavor-
able, strength of the soil and amount
/ of fertilizing material applied. On
/ medium soils, in ordinary seasons, the
! first topping should be from ten to
! thirteen leaves rarely more for
| brights: for sweet filters from nine to
| ten, and for dark, rich shipping, from
| eight to nine leaves are enough As
/ the season advances reduce the num-
/ Der of leaves accordingly, remember
ing that quality more than quantity
regulates returns.
Many devices have been resorted TO
in order to lessen the number and miti
| gate the ravages of the horn worm, but
the lack of Fgeneral and continued
efforts from year to year has brought
only partial relief. Some years they
come in great numbers, and, despite
| the best efforts of the planter, seriously
damage his crop. Perhaps the next
year they are few, and give him no
/ trouble. It is the nature of this insect
to raise at least two broods during the
| year. The hawk moth or tobacco fly
usually makes his appearance in the
month of May. The eggs deposited
| by the first moths hatch out in from
| five to seven days larvae or worms.
The worm sheds its outer skin twice
before it gets its growth. The grow
ing stage of the worm lasts from
twenty-five to thirty days, and after il
/ has attained its growth it gOrges itself
for a few DAYS longer and then crawls
| or burrows into the ground, where it
| soon passes into the pupa state; and,
! after some twentv-three or TWENTY-FIVE
! days from the time of its crawling into
| the ground, the pupa sends forth a
| moth to Law more eggs and hatch more
worms Each moth is capable of lay
! ing on an average, two hundred eggs.
! So that for every moth in Nav we NAV
| reasonably expect at least one hundred
worms of the first brood; and. if none
! of these are DESTROYED. but all allowed
to change to moths, and these latter to
raise horde of worms, what wonder
that the second brood sometimes APP
! pears in such countless numbers as to
defy all efforts to destroy them before
they have ruined the crop. Every
moth ought to be destroyed as it ap-
! pears, and this may be done to great
extent by injecting a few drops of
| sweetened cobalt (Which is a pOison)
into the flowers of the petunia. honey
suckle or jamestown GimsOn) which
will give them their final quietus. But
! this hunt for the moth is not general,
and if it were some would escape. But
if every planter would wage war Of
determination on the first brood of
ms-unfortunately thing rarely
| done-they would never appear in such
! uncomfortable hordes later in the sea-
son. The suckers should be pulled off
every week as they appear, and ought
never to be permitted to get over two
inches long; for if permitted to grow
large they abstract much that would
otherwise go to perfect rich, silky
! leaf. No planter need expect a crop
of fine grade who does not pull off the
suckers while small. and prevent the
horn-worms from Kidding the leaves.