The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1907-03-07
FertiIizer For Tobacco.


The use of fertilizers for the grow
ing of tobacco hastens forward the
crop at least two weeks or more. 1t
also adds greatly to the yield Of the
crop and to the quality of the prod
uct. Lands that under ordinary con-
ditions would make a yield of poor,
| papery tobacco, lacking in gummy or
oily matters and united for shipping
purposes, may be made to produce a
very high type of tobacco by the lib
| eral application of a well-compounded
fertilizer with suitable ingredients.
1t is nov a al thing to plant tobacco
without using some fertilizer. 1t no
only improves the quality and In
creases the weight Of the cured to-
bacco, but it gives an early start to
the plant, which soon grows large
enough to Withstand the ravages of
grasshoppers and other insects.
After the hills are made, the
quicker the plants are set out the
better. During the first half of May
there is usually enough humidity in
the soil to make the transplantiRg
safe without rain. 1t is best, how
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rain, provided the fall Of rain is not
so heavy as to thoroughly soak the
ground. In this case it is better to
wait until the excessive water is
drained away. A peg an inch OF an
inch and a half in diameter and six
or eight inches long and sloped for
one-third of the length to a blunt
point, is used for setting out the
plants. A hole is made with it in
the hill into which the roots of the
plants are thrust. The dirt Is then
pressed to the plant by the thumb on
one side and the peg on the other.
One person usually drops for two set
ting out. A hand plant, that is an
extra plant to begin with, facilitates
greatly the planting, as it may be
adjusted In the hand in passing from
one hill to another. The plant
dropped on one hill is the n set out
IN the next.
In about eight to ten days after
the plants are set out in the open
field they will be so well established
that cultivation should begin by run-
ming a furrow-on each side of the row
with the single horse turning pillow,
the bar Of the pillow being run as
closely as possible to the plants with
out disturbing the roots and so en-
dangering their vitality. This leaves
a narrow ridge with the plants stand
ing or it. Hoes are then brought in
to requisition to scrap away any
grass or weeds that may have made
their appearance. 1t is a good prac-
tice to draw a little dirt up around
the plants after breaking the crust
which generally crowns the top OF the
ridge. This initial working is prob
ably the most important. For subse-
quent working c~ultivators may be
run at intervals of a week or ten
days both ways through the tobacco.
This is especially important after
every rain. 1t is now the practice of
the best tobacco-growers to use level
cultivation. 1t was once thought
necessary to put a supporting hill
around each plant at the first Guilt
walton. This practice has been aban-
doned because it diminishes the area
Of range for the roots Of the plants
and also lessons the amount of nu-
Nudity within reach of the roots, and
this humidity grows more important
as the leaves expand. The land
should eve be worked when it is
wet. When the plants have attained
a size that makes it impossible to use
a pillow or cultivator without damage
from the breakage of leaves, it will
be found advantageous to cut out
with hoes or to pull up with the
hands any grass, weeds or bushes
that may spring up. Every alien
growth will damage the quality of
the tobacco.-From Virginia-C Carolina
Fertilizer Almanac.