The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1904-02-09
GROWING TOBACCO SUCCESSFULLY.
Mr.. G. L. Allen Contributes an Unusually Valuable
and Practical Paper.
Editors Progressive Farmer:

- 10 NCIS uIIuSudl u me TO appear IN prln
but at your request l will give you a few of m
ideas IN regard to the nature and the cultivation
of tobacco.
tobacco is a plant that has a great many pc
cuharites of its own, and it requires more exper
mental than scientific knowledge to understand
Its nature and be able to successfully manag,
1t through all of its stages from the seed to tn
market. Hence | think a great deal of the writ
ting ON tobacco by men who have the prof.
prefix their names, but without an experimental
knowledge of it, is false in theory and very mis-
leading.
To raise tobacco successfully you must combine
texture, size, body and color, which is very hare
to do; and with either one of these characteristic
lacking you will not have a tobacco that will de-
mand a paying price OH the market of to-day. A
few years ago it didn't make so much difference
whether you had body and texture or not, so you
had a cOlOry tobacco, it would demand a paying
price. But it now seems that the day for thin,
white, papcry tobacco, such as is made in Eastern
North Carolina and South Carolina, has passed.
There are three things essential to raising a
hlgh-gradc tobacco-the right kind of soil, good
seasons and experience.
THE SOIL NEEDED.
Not all soils are suitable to raise good tobacco,
even in the tobacco belt. All farmers who have
any experience in raising tobacco and know their
farms have certain places they plant in tobacco
and other places on the same farm they would not
think of trying to raise fine tobacco on. The
whittier the soil as a general thing the whittier the
tobacco when cured. A deep light soil with a
coarse yellow subsoil is generally the best kind of
land FOR tobacco.
And mot nn1- +1ol lid L.. II H..
soil has a great deal TO do with the quality of
tobacco raised. Rested land-that is, land after
tobacco or corn that was allowed to grow to
weeds the previous year before it is planted
in tobacco-is generally considered by experienced
tobacco growers in the best condition for a fine
crop. [ think peas can protitably be sown on thin
land for a few years, but the continual sowing
of peas on tobacco land will cause it to have dark
and green butts, which make a very unstable to-
bacco. And clover is worse than peas. / have
seen a few fine tobacco lots ruined for several
years by a few crops Of clover. 1t causes the to-
bacco 70 dry spot and grow rough without any
character and makes a very low grade tobacco.
L know the above statements are contrary to the
professional writing we see in some of our agri-
cultural papers, but experimental knowledge has
taught us that quality is more important than
quantity and one of the great secrets in success
tobacco raising is to learn to combine them
both in the same plant.
HOW DIFFERENT SEASONS AFFECT THE CROP.
Seasons play a very important part in raising
a successful tobacco crop. As a general thing,
a moderately dry year is best for tobacco. It
cannot stand too much rain; therefore the land
should be we'll drained. If the water is allowed
to stand ON the land and the sun shines out hot,
the tobacco Will drown and flop down. running it.
y very important thing in raising a good heavy
bodied tobacco is distance. | think the rows
should be four feet wide with the plants three