St. Tammany farmer., 1906-08-04
FARMER AND PLANTER
MAKING TOBACCO cHEAPLY.

MAKING TOBACCO cHEAPLY.
A North Carolina Farmer Tells the
Method He Has Found
Successful.
know this is too late for q man
to start to raise crop of tobacco, but
probably it is never too late for Us
to learn something about it.
In the first place, it pays well to
prepare your plant bed we'll. pre-
fer to burn the land well some time
in February, then hoe and rake until
the land is as fine and level as a bed
can well be made, then put about
cne pound Of cottonseed meal and one
half pound of some standard fertilizer
to every square yard; then rake or
hoe it in to have it thoroughly mixed
with the soil.
Now it is ready for the seed. l
usually put about two tablespoonstul
of seed to 100 square yards. This Is q
little more seed than most people use,
but find that can get plant to live
better where the plants were thick
enough on the bed to make it. run up
and have a leg two inches long, than
one that was as large or larger with
no stalk to it>at all. And always have
plants enough to set my crop between
May 1st and 10th.
After having broken my land thor
oughly in the last of March or April,
/ then lay off my rows with cotton
plow, very shallow 31z feet apart.
Then SOW 1000 pounds of fertilizer
analyzing AGA or 4-8-4 per acre.-Then
list up on it with turn plow, then put
a land roller on it and roll it down
level; this will help it to hold the
moisture.
Now l am ready to set my tobacco.
l set it three feet apart on the row;
this will give 1000 plants per acre.
After plants have been set out about
ten days or, two weeks begin to work
it-at first very shallow with a small
tooth cultivator. After it has taken q
good start to grow plow deeper, and
the last time I plow very shallow
again. Just how often and how it Is to
be worked will depend altogether up
on the condition of the land and the
seasons. But if you put 1000 pounds
of high-grade fertilizer per acre. you
will find that you will not have time
to work it many times, for it will soon
be too large to work, and as soon as
1t gets large enough to shade the land
sufficient to keep grass and weeds
from coming to injure it, l find it does
best to stop cultivation.
Now comes the most important time
of the crop, Topping it is very vital
matter, in my opinion. Mr.. Petree says
six or eight leaves, but I double this.
think l have very poor crop unless
get an average of sixteen or eighteen
leaves to the stalk I think that one
ought never to plant land in tobacco
that would not make this much with
1000 pounds of good guano, and If
from 800 to 700 pounds only make
eight leaves, it seems to me that 1t will
be good economy to use 1000 pounds
to get sixteen leaves, for it will be less
trouble to cultivate on acre and get
from 1000 to 1900 pounds of good to-
bacco than it would be to have two
acres of land to work and get the
same amount in pounds and not nearly
so good quality.
My average for the last five years
has been more than 1000 pounds to-
bacco per acre, and the price from So
to 1888 per hundred pounds. Now, I
mean that my poorest crop in five
years averaged SC per pound, and the
best crop, 10 1-3c. per pound.
Now, a word as to getting it from
the field to the curing barns. have
tried several different ways. I never
cut my tobacco, but prime it all. I can
do it cheaper and get better results,
for it is impossible to save a crop Of
good tobacco and cut it, for the bot
tom leaves will all dry up, and you
have to cure the top green. AS soon as
I see the bottom leaves begin to ripen
I begin to cure, and go on every week
and gather what may be ready to cure,
let it be one leaf or four leaves to the
stalk.
I use a truck with four wheels, It
being made on the order of dray
wagon, to get it out Of the field. have
every fourth row four feet or four feet
three inches for this truck to be driven
in. These trucks will hold enough to-
bacco to tie up from twenty-five to
seventy-five sticks, depending upon
how higl the curtain is on the truck.
and with three of these trucks you
can take two men to prime and two
boys to drive the trucks and get from
800 to 1000 sticks per day, out of the
field to some convenient place to tie it
UP. This quality will make, when
cured, 1000 to 1900 pounds tobacco.
BY using these trucks / get it out of
the field, cure it and pack it up in
packhouse for from SO to $13 per
acre. This doesn't include my team,
but all the hand hire from the time
start to curing until get 1t in the
packhouse, and this is only about 81
per 100 pounds. This is as cheap as It
can be cut and cured, believe. Then
when 1t is to be graded 1t can be done
much better and cheaper than it was
on the stalk.-B. N. Sykes, Hertford
county, N. c., in Progressive Farmer.