St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-03-07

FARMER AND PLANTER.
TOBACCO CULTURE.
UoDo Usef1l Hints u 10 ttili1ed - the
6cason Approaches.
The first thing in tobacco culture Il
the preparation Of the plant-beds.
This work should be done In the latter
half OF February or the LIST Of March.
according to the condition Of the
weather. For beds select rich spot
on . warm, sunny slope, where the sun
and warm south winds will greatly aid
in bringing the tiny seeds into life,
ana insure strong, healthy plants.
The first thing to be done IL to clean
the ground of all rubbish and trash,
and prepare It for burning, to destroy
al foul weed seed. Avery good mate
rial to do the burning with is brush,
pieces Of rails or old logs. After the
burning, rs soon rs the bed has cooled,
dig and pulverize the soil thoroughly
to receive the small seeds. Great care
should be taken not to sow the seed
too thickly. Many plant-beds are
ruined by being too thick. as
this makes the plants tender and easily
injured by the hot sun after they have
been set out. A teaspoonful Of seed is
sufficient to sow bed ten feet square.
Mix the seed with sifted ashes or corn
meal to insure its even distribution
over the bed. After the seed is sown
the surface of the bed should be settled
smoothly. Ina piece of board Is inches
square and two inches thick bore hole
In the center, and fit in an old broom
handle. Take hold of the end of the
handle and gently pat over the surface
OF the bed. This method is much
easier and heater than tramping. The
beds should not be more than nine
feet wide, but may be rs long as de-
sired. A bed of this width will take
three strips of canvas, one yard wide,
sewed together, to cover it, and it will
be found more convenient in many
ways than . wider bed. The beds
should be attended to carefully, and
to make their appearance.
The preparation Of the ground for
the plants should be carefully and
thoroughly done. The ground should
be plowed from eight to ten inches
deep; il sod, it should be plowed early,
in order that the soil may settle and
the sod rot. Thoroughly pulverize the
soil and get it in good condition. Mark
on the ground into rows three feet
eight inches apart; and if commercial
fertilizer is used, drill in the row with
= cord-drill which has a fertilizer at
tachment. This will be found much
easier and better than hand-dropping.
Alter the fertilizer is drilled, make hills
from two to two and one-half feet
apart. and you are now ready for q
season" The plants should be trans
planted, or ''set," from May 20 to June
10, but better in May, as it will give
the tobacco more time to mature before
frost. In setting the plants, be careful
to straighten out the roots and to get
them covered with soil, to insure q
good and speedy start.
After the plants have been set for
from three to five days, run between
the rows with cultivator. In a weeks
time run through again with the Guilt
vator and hoe carefully. Cultivate as
level as possible to hold the moisture.
Soil under level cultivation will not dry
as easily as that hoed in ridges along
the rows. The crop should be cult
waited at least twice with the hoe and
four times with cultivator. Do not,
under any circumstances, cultivate
when the crop'is ready to top, as cult
waiting at this time breaks and Injuries
the numerous small roots which the
plant sends out after food and moisture.
l have seen cases in which considerable
damage was done by late cultivation,
especially in . dry season.
Be careful to look out for worms, q
they may take you unawarcs and do
considerable damage before they can
be checked. If the crop is large and
the worms very plentiful, it will be
found quite , task to pick them of by
hand. A great many growers resort
to poisoning. This is done by mixing
Paris green with water, land-plaster or
-four, and sprinkling the tobacco with
the mixture.
The next Important point in tobacco
culture is the topping. II you have
had = favorable season, and your crop
has grown well, it should be ready to
top At least by August q. In this
work considerable Judgment should be
exercised If You top too low, you lose
perhaps several leaves that would
make good tobacco; il too high, the
plant will not spread and make per
fectly developed leaves; usually from
Is to 20 leaves left to . plant will be
about right.
In about two weeks after the plant
Is topped the first set Of suckers"
makes their appearance, which must
be broken ont by hand. Two weeks
later second set Of suckers come on,
when the same process must be gone
over again. BY this time the crop will
be ripening and nearly ready to cut.
When the tobacco is ripe it becomes
very thick and heavy; it also has yell
lowish cast, spotted with green. A
very good test is to dosble . part Of
the leaf back with thumb and finger;
and il it cracks or breaks, it is consid-
cred in fairly good condition for cut
ting. Now for the cutting. Put the
stick in slanting position at the
root Of = plant. Take the knife
in the right hand, start it down the
stalk, and gaging it SO as to
miss the leaves as much as possible,
let the hand follow the split, and
when the knife is within about six
inches of the root Of the plant, remove
it from the split, slightly bend the
stalk over with the left hand, and with
one stroke Of the knife cut the stalk OF
below the leaves. Take hold Of the
end Of the stalk with the right hand,
= : n i