Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1902-05-16


better it will pack around the plant
end the quicker the plant will start
on after it has been set. After the
land has been put in the best possible
Condltion, the rows should be laid of
S7s feet each way. Fertilizer should
De cropped in check at the rate of 80
or 6O pounds to the acre. The same
amount should be dropped in each
hill, so as to make every plant start
to grow on at the same time. This Is
very important, for if the plants start
uneven they will mature uneven and
be more trouble to handle.
The fertilizer should be of soma
standard brand and should contain
high per cent. of potash. A hill should
now be made in the check over the
fertilizer, which, when settled. will
be on a level with the surface of the
land. After a good season the land
is ready for the plants. Good plants
are very necessary to make a good
crop. In order to have these the
plant land should be well burned in
fall or winter, gotten up nicely and
fifty pounds of tobacco grower sown to
every hundred square yards and raked
In. Then one tablespoonful of tobac-
co seed sown to every hundred square
yards. About the goth Of March, OF
as soon as the first plants can be seen
coming up, the beds should be can
Vassed and the canvas allowed to re-
main on until few days before the
plants are ready to set. As soon as
the plants are set they should be
busted with Paris green. The mix
ture l use is 35 pounds Of land plaster,
IS pounds of low grade flour and l
pound of Paris green. This is enough
tor 10 acres Of tobacco. Begin to cul-
tivate soon after planting. The best
implement for this is a one-hOrse har-
row, run in the middle of the balk
DO not run close enough to the plant
to loosen the soil around the roots
The crop should be we'll cultivated
after every rain if possible. In dry
weather keep the soil we'll stirred and
pulverized. 1t will hold the moisture
a great deal better than if you were to
cease the cultivation.
The cultivation should continue as
long as it can be done without break
ing the tobacco, or until good part of
it is ready to be topped. 1t is bad
policy to top a few scattering plants
before the other is ready to top. If
you have a few plants needing topping
Just pull the buttons out and let II
wait and be primed and topped with
the other. Tobacco ought not to be
primed and topped too high.
1t weighs heavier and has a better
spread of leaf. The next thing in order
is to keep the worms and the suck
ers off Of it. You can be very mater
tally aided in the former by the aid
of cobalt used in jamestown weed
blossoms, provided all in a neighbor-
hood will see it.
Cutting and housing are very impor-
tant factors in the raising of a to-
baccO crop. Many a fine field of to-
taccO has been ruined in the cutting,
housing and curing process. Tobac-
co should be allowed to stand on the
hill until most of it can be cut. Some
times it is better to let few plants
get little too ripe in order to give
the others time to get ready for the
knife
In cutting you should be very care
full and not get any Of it sunburned
or handled while it is too hot. 1t
should be put in the barn with as
little water on it as possible, with
sticks six or seven inches apart on the
tiers. If the weather is not very warm
fires should not be started until the to-
baccO has been cut five or six days.
1t should be fired very slow for "a
hours, or until all danger of fre-kil-
ling or blueing it is over, and then
raise the fires to good heat and keep
so until all of the leaf and about one
third of the stem is cured The fires
should then be stopped and the tObao
co be allowed to come in order and
run the desired color. Now start the
fires again and fire until all of the
stem is well cured.
The trade now calls for tobacco that
smells strong of fire. The more fire
the better, provided it is not fre-killed
or blued,
BY request Mr.. J. b. Walker read the
following paper, contributed by Mr.
McCurdy, of Montgomery county,
Tenn, on same subject:
To Church Hill Grange No. -:
Knowing the aims and objects of your
VI WI tAo L W. anu bNAAA6 dW al Z VI LllC
fact that any uplift to the farmer is a
benefit to all other trades, vacations and
business, emboldens me to offer you
this unsolicited, gratuitous contribu-
ton, on the cultivation, curing and
CHASING tobacco.
I will not so into the minute details
of growing tobacco, but will devote my
space more particularly to the process |
of curing with an eye single to the pro-
ductiOn of some Of the better grades or
types with regard to color, etc.
l deem it useless to give you my plan /.
of cvltivating tobacco, other than to .
say: First, select some fertile land .
adapted to tobacco; secondly, put in a
high state of cultivation; third lay off
your land three and one-half feet east
and vest, four feet north and south;
then scatter some good commercial fer
tilizer in the check at about forty or
fifty pounds per acre. Notice / said,
scatter, not Drop After which make
good hills, broad and low, free from
trash etc. Plant as usual. If from the
indications you apprehend trouble
from either the grasshopper or cut
worm l would suggest an application
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