The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-01-28

he on new land to ilisare quick growth
and freedom from excess of grass.
They should be made during good
weather in February or March. Dig
the land deeply, and fork out all roots
and trash. The land must lie highly
manfred either with commercial fertil-
izar or with we'll rotted manure, free
of seeds, with small quantity of high
grade fertilizer to stimulate the manure.
| have seen excellent plants raised
with either kind of manure mentioned,
but | prefer to use a liberal dressing of
well-rotted hog manure, evenly spread
and forked in, with light dressing of
high-grade fertilizer, as stimulant.
Hog manure has staying qualities.
Rake bed down level and SOW plenty
of seed, and brush il. Let tie bed
stand until after rain. and then tramp
firmly while the ground is quite moist.
Before seed sprout cover with Gotten.
Cotton insures against depreciation Of
fly, and also brings the plants on at least
ten days earlier. After plants come
up and start to grow, if they be too
thick. use the rake freely and complete
the thinning by hand when picking
out grass. Pick bed clean as soon as
the grass comes, and keep them clean.
After picking give light dressing Of
land plaster, to freshen the plants.
During growth, if the plants do not
show much vigor, top-dress with fer
tilizer at intervals, or with wellrotted
manure or tobacco trash. Either ap-
plication should be just before rain.
or while it is raining Should the top
dressing be with fertilizer and the rain
should fail to come the probability is
that thn tender plants will he badly in
iured or even killed Let the plants
get large and strong before transplant
inc them \ large plant will withstand
the ravages of the cut worm. the fly
and hot weather. 1t will grow fast
and mature early. \ small plant is
subject to all the ills of plant life, and
is very uncertain, causing much re-
planting, and, hence. an irregular crop.
l. al,
ingS.
In my opinion, land for tobacco
should be plowed in late fall, during
the winter or in the earl Y spring before
the freezing be over with. Freezing
kills many of the worms, and also pull
verizes the soil and puts it in good con-
dition for easy cultivation. The land
should he plowel not less than six
inches deep, seven inches being better,
so as to have plenty of soil for the
roots to hunt for their food in. and suf
ticient depth to retain moisture. To
raise tobacco for the French market,
where. | am informed, most of our to-
bacco goes, the land should be soft
soil with reddish clay subsoil. This
rel subsoil gives its color to the tobac-
CO. Before proceeding to get the land
ready for planting, get out all the ma
nure that can be raked and scraped.
Clean up the stables, the barn-vard,
the hen-house, the asl-banks, hog-pens,
wood piles, tobacco stalks, rich ditch
banks in the low lands and the mar
pits. which last, is Il most excellent fer
tiliZer. rs | have demonstrated to nv
sltistaction,-mor especially on clay
land. The ditch banks and mari pits
should. to save time, he hauled out and
spread during the winter And the
manure from the stables. to prevent
waste hy burning and teaching, should
be hauled out and spread as soon as a
load or two accumulates. The waste
Of manure in this county is terrible
Manure is the life of the soil, and
every particle of it should be saved and
applied to the land rs soon as made.
before waste commences.
70 prepare the land for planting, |
think cross-plowing is far preferable to
the use of the cultivator, the spring
tooth harrow. or any other means that
| know Of 1t puts the land in better
form for fine deep filth and prevents
an earl y excess of grass. Get the land
reduced to fine filth, | find that nothing
beats the hoe for striking up tobacco
hills. The tobacco plant is very ten
der and it must have n good soft hill,
with no clods in it. Listing by horse
power is apt to leave clods underneath
tobacco. Plant with the finger A
chanting stick is apt to be thrust into
the ground too deeply, leaving a cavity
under the plant, which not only causes
the land to dry out under the plants
but will become the habitation of ants.
For very rich land plant as close as
can be worked b,tw zen with horse
each way. but if til, Ian | b. )mewhat
thin, plant wider apart. If on rich
land the tobacco be planted too wide
apart, it will grow too large and course.
Weed out early and cultivate often and
deeply, running as close to the young
tobacco rs yoa can without loosening
its hold in the ground. Bat as it
grows larger, drop back to the middle
Of the row. For fin" light grade of