Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-14
THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO.


to show through these columns that tobacco
culture might be made first-class success
in an,the Red river counties of Texas, and
that this Red river region was entirely well
adapted to the growth of the finer grades
of Cuba tobacco, such as are now being
raised in the northern portions OF Florida.
The more we study this matts the more
fully do we become convinced that there
can be no kind of mistake about it. Our
tier Of Red river counties have every ma
tural requisite for successful tobacco cul-
ture, and it is certainly a thing much to be
regretted that the farmers Of those counties
do not at once step into the tobacco-growing
industry, for tobacco would pay them en-
tirely better than cotton or anything else
that they could produce. There is not so
much in ordinary tobacco such as is raised
in Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.
but in the finer tobaccos, which cost no
more TO raise, there is certainly big thing.
You. ought to well understand this last
when you take into consideration that
farmers get along wen enough by raising
and selling the ordinary tobaccos at 1215
cents a pound when these fine Cuba To-
baccos, as raised in Florida go of like hot
cakes at 30 cents pound
We have promised some of our Red river
correspondents an article on tobacco cul-
ture and this week offers Us good "a time as
we could get for fulfilling that promise.
Since making that promise we have been
gathering data and all to follow may be
accepted as the latest going, for it is d.
rectly from the experiment station of Flor
ida, whore are grown the tobaccos that we
are recommending for North Texas.
As stated by US il recent article, the
first consideration in tobacco culture is
good seed of the varieties one desires to
grow. The next thing IS the plant bed
For the Red river counties of North Texas
that should be sown about the last week in
February. New and fresh land is the best
for the plant, but not an absolute necessity.
New land has an advantage in being more
clear Of weeds and grass than old land, but
in this lies It's only advantage The old
time tobacco grower thought 1t was strictly
necessary to burn brush heap and SOW his
seed in the warm ashes. but modern to-
bacco growers are beginning 20 regard this
rs a doubtful method. Tests made in North
Florida with both burnt and unburnt
lands have shown best results on unburnt
lands. Anyhow, there is nothing in Durn-
ing brush heap over the plant bed beyond
a chance that the burning might destroy
seeds of noXious growths, and thus lessen
the work of keeping the plant beds clean.
If we were making i tobacco plant bed in
a wooded country we would burn brush
over it, regardless of whether the land was
new or old, but if not in wooded country,
where 4 brush heap would not be a cheap
and convenient thing, we would always sow
our seed without burning the brush. The
only thing to consider is this: Would IL
cost less TO make and burn big brush heap
than it would cost to weed over the beds
once2 We would take sides in favor of the
side promising the least cost.
The Florida experiment station rather
opposes the old brush burning method, by
stating that at the station the beds which
were burnt were not freer from grass or
weeds, or from destructive insects neither
was the soil in better condition than on the
uuburnt beds. Being an old-fashioned
Kentucky tobacco grower it is natural that
we should rather incline to favor the
brush-burning plan, yet we are entirely
willing to give in to anything advanced by
so high an authority as the Florida expert
ment station. That station emphatically
declares that the brush heap is unneces-
saTy, and that, so far as relates to the
growth of plants, old land, if rich, is in
every way as good as new land for the
plant bed.
For the plant bed select a moist plot of
ground that is wei, drained, with sun ex-
posure Break it up deep and pulverize
the soil Sow the seed broadcast or in
drills and cover by merely dragging some
light substance over the surface, as COM
mon gunny bag. Roll lightly with hand
roller, or pack by tapping the surface
lightly with the back of spade A tobacco
plant bed ought to be handy to water, so
that the bed may be sprayed or sprinllled
every evening with enough water to pre-
vent the drying out of the seed or plants
during dry season. Some soil dries rapidly
TO the depth seed ought to be planted, and
if the seed terminate and have not sufficient
water to keep them alive they easily die
before gettinga firm roCt-hold.
The plant bed is an aosolute necessity to
a crop of tobacco. Here is where the
greatest care should be taken to guard
against failure. Get the plant bed all right
and everything is easy enough sailing
afterwards, surprising the natural condi-
Cons of the section to be favorable, which
they are, undoubtedly in the Red river
counties of Texas.
The amount of seed commonly estimated
for one acre, is one teaspoonful sown upon
bed aboIt twenty feet square We speak
of it as a square to give a better understand
ing OF the size, though it would be better to
make the bed narrow so that, in case weed
ing should be necessary, one could do the
work without walking on the bed.
Protection against possible spells of cold
should be taken into consideration when
arranging the bed. A cheap protection
against 4 late blizzard may be found in
simply spreading gunny bags over the bed. !
Land for the tobacco field should be
deeply broken and thoroughly pulverized.
Lay OF the rows four feet apart and set the
plants, when large enough to handle, about |
two feet apart in the row-if q large grow