The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1889-01-31
TOBACCO CULTURE.
SOME VALUABLE HINTS TO THE
PLANTER.
Selection and Preparation of the Soil
BY CAPT. r. B. DAVIS.

BY CAPT. R. B. DAVIS.
A soft, deep, sandy soil is preferable,
which before planting should be al
ways put in the fines. tilth, it being an
adage with good farmers, that ga crop
properly planted is halt worked"
If the land is new ground, it should,
after having been grubbed and
chopped, be raked cleanly and ali
leaves and litter burnt. 1t is then
ready for the plow, and should be
closely broken twice and crosswise
with the bulltongue, and as often har-
rowed. 1t should next be marked off
by bull-tongue in horizontal rows three
feet three inches apart, into which
should be drilled 800 pounds per acre,
unless where the land is naturally rich,
of good and active fertilizer. 1t is
then ready to be listed or bedded with
a turning plow. Iprefer the list, since
it lightens the hoe work Of hilling, and
is at the same time more economical
use Of the fertilizer-the blanks be-
tween can be thrown out at the first
wedding. With broad wedding hoe
these lists or beds should now be
worked into conical hills, placing
them three feet three inches apart, and
giving about 1850 hills to the acre.
| know that many recommend more
crowded planting, giving the rows and
hills distance of only three feet.
But in doing SO nothing in my opin
ion is gained IN weight, while some
thing is lost in the length, breadth and
body of the leaf, which with the man
ufacturer are the prime requisites.
The hills can be laid off with great ac
curacy by stepping or otherwise meas
uring one row, and then placing the
hills of the next between those Of the
first, and so on, or what is called
dodging them. TO prevent crowding
or lrregularitv in billing, this rule will
be found of use where raw hands are
employed.
The hill-culture, both in the prepa
ration and the subsequent workings Of
the tobacco crop, should never be de
parted from, for the reason that that
method of cultivation gives the land
the best drainage of which it is capa-
Die. And in this crop, drainage is
one of the first things to be considered,
for the reason that all the diseases to
which the plant is liable, such as
f1enching, firing, spotting, rustlng and
shedding, come from excessive rain,
accompanied by excessive heat. The
growth of the plant itself would sug
gest as much, for in time Of drouth the
leaves stand up to gather the rain, but
so soon as it has enough of 1t they turn
8 down and throw it off. | repeat then,
, let no water stagnate upon the ground.
, For new ground, the hilling can be
done as early as April or March, and
should always, when the soil is in good
= working order and neither too wet nol
! too dry. In the one case it will bake
! and prevent the ready growth of the
. plant, and in the other it will require
), much rain to put it in condition fol
planting.
If the land is not new ground, either
forest or pine field, it should be fres}
or at least long rested and in gooC
heart, and upon which neither corr
nor sorghum has been lately cropped
For such land the preparation is in al
respects similar to that for new ground
except that turning plow may taxi
the place of the bull-tongue, and tina
IF the hilling should not be done Garlic
n than the first of May, for fear that tn
j. hills may become grassy while waitin
,e for plants or a season to plant then
It To preserve such lands and to preven
N damage to the growing crop fror
h washing rains, water erfurrowing or gut
ly tering is recommended,
le PLANTING.
=. The tobacco plant requires usual
ce 100 days from the time it is tran:
us planted to grow and ripen properly
I'd To secure the best results, the plan
or ing should not be earlier than the I OF
of May, and if possible not later tha
the 2oth of June. In the one case II
plant is likely to be stunted i'll i
early growti, as we'll as deprived
the dews of August and September
a and in the other, there is danger tn;
or it may not have time to mature full
VS. before frost.
tn The plants are set very much
if cabbage plants are by inserting the
OBJ to the bud and pressing the earth we
let to their roots and stems with pc
ed A plant is said to be properly plants
ril when the point Of the leaf breaks
is in the attempt to pull it up.
The plants should never be sufer'
to wilt before they are set. If Il
cannot be done as fast as they a
drawn from the bed, as many as c.
be planted in single day should
nd drawn while the dew is on them, al
of kept until needed in a shaded pla
his with their roots upon damp groun
tax their tops being occasionally sprinki
on with water.