The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1888-01-26
TOBACCO CULTURE.
How to Prepre the Plant Bed.

How to Prepre the Plant Bed.
[By Capt. R. b. Davis, sf Hickory, Y. C.1
To the planteran early and abun-
dant supply of tobacco plants is the
thing of prime importance. To Sc
cure this the seed may be sown at any
time between the 18TH of December
and the 18TH of March, the earlier the
better, and allottipg 100 square yards
of seed-bed to every 10, 900 plants
that will be needed. Tie ground
selected for this purpose should BE-
virgin soil, of sandy texture, rich and
moist, with full exposure to the sun,
but sheltered to the North and West
by rising ground or growing timber,
against the cold wind of early spring.
Such spots can be readily found in
wooded hollows, at the foot of hills,
and near to or along side some water
course. Other things being equal, the
farther into the woods the spot selected
is the better in order to escape the bug
The ground having been we'll che-
sen. the next thing is to rake it cleanly
and then burn it thoroughly SO as to
kill all germs of vegetation. The
burning can be done at a single blast,
if done with dry brush, heaped upon
the entire bed height of some four
feet. A better but costlier method is
to burn with wood laid upon green
poles, which serve the purpose Of ven
tilation, which case the wood should
be piled the whole length of the bed,
and of convenient width, say six feet,
and after the pile has been we'll kindled,
it should be allowed to burn some two
hours, or until the poles underneath
are burnt up. The burning wood and
fire Goals should now be moved by
using old hoes fastened upon long
handles, and again spread convenient
width and fresh wood added, which
should burn until the ground under
meath has been burnt IS thoroughly as
before, and SO on until the entire bed
has been burnt over. So soon as the
ground has cooled enough to walk
upon it, and without removing the
ashes, it should be broken deeply and
finely with the mattock, care being
taken not to invert the soil, and then
chopped with wedding hoes and raked
until clear Of roots and we'll pulverZed
for which reason land :hould never
be burnt when too wet.
The bed is now ready for seeding.
The variety of seed recommended is
the Yellow Olinoca. The quantity
sown should be one and a half table
spoonfuls to every 100 square yards.
Great care should be taken to SOW the
seed as regularly as possible SO as to
prevent some spots from being too
thin, and what is worse, other spoots
from being too thick. To do SO the
seed should be carefully measured and
then thoroughly mixed in convenient
quantity of dry ashes, and the mix
ture divided into two equal parts. The
bed should be marked off into conven-
lent sowing breadths by lines four feet
apart, and sowed entirely over with
one half the seed in one direction, and
then over again with the other half in
the opposite direction, the sower re-
trScing his steps. The seed should be
left upon the surface and neither hoed
nor raked into the soil, but trodden
in with the foot, or pressed in with the
back of a wedding hoe, or better still,
by passing light roller over the bed.
TO prevent drifting or pudding Of the
seed by washing rains, where the
ground is rolling, trenches slightly in
clined and two inches deep and four
feet apart should be made with the
mattock across the bed. Where the
ground is fiat and subject to being sob
bed, it should be thoroughly drained,
as nothing browns more easily than
the tobacco plant.
For the three e-fold purpose of warmth
m DISTURB and fertility, the bed should
now be top dressed with a covering
half inch thick OF good stable manure
broken fine, the fresher the better, but
in any case free of grass-seed. When
such stable manure is not convenient,
that from the hen house or hog pen
will answer, top-dressing. If neither
of these is at hand, some strongly
ammoniated fertilizer should be ap-
piled at the rate of half bushel of it to
every 100 square yards, and raked into
the soil before seeding. The bed should
now be thickly covered with fine brush
to prevent both drying and freezing oi
the soil, by which the plants are either
checked in their growth or lifted out
by the roots.
The next thing to be thought Of is
to guard against the ravages of the to-
bacco bug, an insect which by pop.
ular misnomer is called 1.-The Fly"
which makes its appearance about the
first of April, and for which when once
it gets possession of plant-bed, nc
remedy has yet been found. None o.
the insect poisons, such as carbolie
acid or kerosene oil. have any efec'
upon it. A partial preventive is 70 SOW
the borders ofthe bed thickly with blacl
mustard. 1t springs up thlckly, anc
upon it this bug loves to feed. A still
better preventive is to shut the bug on