The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1892-12-15
More About Tobacco Raising.

The renders OF the posr IN last ISSUE
we're promised further details and partic-
ulars in regard to the cultivation aud
profitable features of tobacco culture. Il
is not the desire of the writer to make
this subject a special hobby, but it Is Of
sufficient Importance to his immediate
section of country to warrant the effort
in keeping i. prominently before the peo-
Pile. Some day ii viii be one among the
great industries OF this mountainous
country, aud tie quicker The epople are
induced to take hold Of it the sooner will
they he benftcd by it. Below is given a
copy Of circular recently issued by the
Tennessee and Georgia Tobacco AssocIa-
ton, of Chattanooga, Tenn, in reference
to which the Times says:
The Tennessee and Georgia Tobacco
Association, Of this city, composed OF
some Of the best men of the two States,
has just issued an important circular
which will explain itself. The Associa-
ton was organized October 10, of this
year, and its object is to encourage the
cultivation of tobacco in Tennessee,
Georgia, and Alabama, and to establish
permanent tobacco market in Chattu-
nooga. The circular says
"l'hc tobacco plant tnrives best i'll u
rich, warm, wcll-Grancd soil, and can he
successfully grown FROM the equator to
beyond the fifth parallel OF latitudc,show-
Ing Il most wonderful adaptation to cl;-
mate. No crop responds more readily
or beautifully, when the right types are
planted on soils adapted thereto, and the
product properly cultivated, cured and
handled.
ga deep, rich soil, OVERLAPPING red or
dark brown subsoi, is best suited for, the
dark, rich export type. A grayclly or
sandy soil, with red or light brown. sub
soil, is best adapted to the production of
sweet filters and stcnmng tobacco.
AIluvials and rich fats produce the hest
cigar stock. White hurley is most sue
ccssfully grown OH dark, rich limestone
soil. For yellow wrappers, smokers and
cutters, a gray, sandy or slaty top soil,
with a ycllowsh, porous subsoil, is pre-
fcrable. The land must be loamy, dry
and warm. rather than close, clammy and
cold; and the finer and winter the sand
therein the surer the indication of its
thorough adaptation to the yellow type.
The soil 80 greatly Affects the charater
and quality of the products that success
is attainable only where the right sclec-
ton of both soil and variety is made for
each plat planted, and planters do we'll to
heed the suggestion.
Trial will determine what variety is
best for any locality, as no one variety is
best for all locations. To plant varieties
unsuited to the type, or on soil uuadaptcd
thereto, is to invite failure every time
The leading cigar varieties are: Conncc-
ticut and Pennsylvania Seed Leaf, I'm
ported and American Grown HaTana,
Genera! Grant, Bradley Broad Leaf and
several Spanish strains.
."The planter should select and prepare
land suited to the type he proposes to
raise, and then SOW seeds OF varieties
recommended herein for the types speci-
fed. in good time, on beds thoroughly
prepared and fertiized--warm southern
and southeastern slopes prcferred-and
cover the beds with thin canvas.
In January or February select suit
bic place, rake Off all leaves and trash,
leaving the ground bare, then cover with
sufficient wood to burn the ground so as
to kill all wild seed that may be in it;thcn
pulvcrize the ground by digging with a
hoe. Sow ut he rate of one ounce OF
seed to 100 square yards. After sowing
pack the ground by running light roller
over it, or trcading with the feet. When
the plants arc up cover the bed with
thin canvas. \ he'd twenty feet square
will produce plants enough to plant sew
eral acres.
"Preparing the land.-pow well and
lay off in rows, three feet apart, then run
cross rows, so as to make checks, and in
the cross pull up the best Of the soil with
hoe into little hill. Ii the soil is poor
drop little fctIiacr, prepared for the
tobacco crop, into the cross and make the
lIll over it.
"TranspIanting.-Any time from The
first of May to Tic first OF July, after the
plants arc large enough, pull out of
the bed and plant in the hills, after Il
rain, as you would cabbage plants Plant
as much rs possible 1T once, 30 it will
mature at the same time.
"Cultivation-Soo as the plants have
taken suliicicntroot, say in ten or fifteen
days after planting, begin to cultivate,
No fixed rule can be successfully followed,
az different soils require different cultiya-
tion The planter will know when the
ground needs stirring.
Pruning anu fopping.-So soon as the
plants shall have attained sufficient size
and the seed buttons arc disccrnablc pr,lnc
off the small lower leaves Of the dark ex-
port type to six inches up from the ground
and pinch out the seed-hud, leaving eight
| to ten leaves on the plant, the numbct
left VARYING according tothc fertility OF
the soil. An average of nine leaves to
tic plant makcs the richest and most
saleahle product. For the yellow and
other manufacturing types it is best not
to prune, but to gather the lower
leaves rs they ripen and cure them for
smokers. White Burley and cigar to-
bacco may be topped, leaving ten to fifteen
leaves othe plant.
"wormins and suckering-Thc TO-
bacco worm will get in the bud and Oh
the leaves and destroy the crop il not kept
picked off and killed. Suckers will sprout
at the axils Of leaf and stalk after the
plants arc topped, and these must be pull.
ed ,,off;as fast US they al tain the length Of
two and three inches. Ii permitted to
grow longer they sap the juices Of Tho
plant and dctract from the size ana rich.
mess of the leaves
Cutting and Housing Ripe tobacc,
Of the commercial leaf type is known b!
the grainipg and thickening Of the lea
and change of colcr-the leaf assuming .
yeliow;sh and somtimes mottlei yclloM