The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-05-23
No. Is

| coIors on 1t IN curing barn.
set my tobacco three feet in the
drill. This gives good room for it to
spread. mark the distance by hav-
ing a careful person to go ahead of
droppers and chop eff ridge at this
distance, and then pat place with back
of hoe-this to keep and retain moist.
ure in ridge. After plants have taken
root and made start to grow (saY @
week or ten days,) / give them a good,
thorough working with the hoe, chop
ping around the plants, and chopping
the ridge down between plants. After
a week or ten days I take a cotton
plow with small front and short sweeps,
and give it a good siding close up to
the plants and moderately deep. Then
split out the middle left when listing
up land for planting, and don't plow
deep any more, and seldom hoe after
the first time, except to get out any
punches of grass that may be about
the plants. l then repeat the blowing
about every ten days, throwing out
middle every time with wide sweeps.
This puts the tobacco on a ridge. I
never ploW more than three times
often only twice, depending on the
growth the plant makes in the time.
Before giving the last plowing prime
eff the lower or plant bed leaves, put
them in barn and cure, (many times
they pay for the fertilizers used , then
with large fronts and long sweeps side
up with plow, throwing all the dirt
you can around the plants, covering
up the wounds made by the printing.
This done your tobacco has begun to
show buttons.
Now comes topping, when judgment
is to be exercised. This should be done
by the best man available Il do this
myself) don't know that topping is
80 important when you prime as when
you cut, still to get best results think
judgment and discretion is to be used.
I top to an average of ten to twelve
leaves, and make 800 to !. 900 pounds
per acre. Some top fourteen to sixteen
leaves, and get from ], 1000 to 1900
pounds. They do not get so much
colory tobacco, however. when they
top high. AS to worms, they make
their first appearance the last of May
or first of June, or about full moon in
June. Then plants put out, say, the
first week in May will be about twelve
to fifteen inches high. We usually be.
Ir.Sv, - nh 81
to finish by the 9Th Of May-any way
by the 10th. After the latter date it
does not do so we'll either in field or
curing barn, and besides you will get
the August showers of rains, which
are troublesome and do great damage.
Tobacco put out by or before 10Th of
May misses these showers, because it
is cured and in pack house. use moth
ing to keep off or destroy worms but
Guinea chickens. I prefer them to
turkeys because turkeys are difficult
to raise. I follow after Guineas and
destroy all eggs and kill such worms
as they do not get. With early plant
ing and these chickens do not con.
slider worms amount to much.
Now comes printing, as soon as your
lugs show they are ready for the cur.
ing form. first cnt my tobacco, be-
lieving, as was told by buyers, it was
better tobt GEO and would bring me
more money. did not find it 80.
Comparing my sales with those who
primed found they got more money
than I did, and it was because they
had more yellow tobacco than got by
the cutting process. then took to
priming, and soon saw that / was
right; that almost all my tobacco was
colory tobacco, and that my averages
were better. still think, however,
something is lost in weight by priming,
but the color will more than make up
for difference in weight. Ny crop last
year was late; did not get it set until
about 18th of May; yet it averaged me
eleven cents net. was not fortunate
in striking the market at any time
when it was its best. / have never
been fortunate in getting fancy prices
LUZ uy CEOpsS 6AO uhNo ueVeF maQ6 d
higher average than fifteen cents-that
was four or five years back. Yellow
tobacco did not do go well last year as
inferior grades, and find inferior
grades are generally heavier.
After priming off leaves they are
taken to the barn, or some place shell.
tered from the sun, where the looping
is done on the sticks. For this pur-
pose use No. 8 smoking yarn and put
from two to four leaves together, ac-