The gold leaf., 1907-04-18

greatly to the yield of the crop and to
the quality Of the product. Lands that
under ordinary conditions would make a
yield Of poor, papery tobacco lacking in
gummy or oily matters and untitled for
shipping purposes, may be made to pro-
duce a very high type of tobacco by the
liberal application Of Weli-compounded
fertilizer with suitable ingredients. 1t is
out using some fertilizer. It not only
improves the quality and increases the
weight of the cured tobacco, but it gives
an early start to the plant, which soon
grows large enough to withstand the
ravages Of grasshoppers and other in
SectS.
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
transplanting safe without rain. 1t is
best, however, to set out Immediately
after q 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 or an inca and half
in diameter and six or eight inches long
and sloped for one-third Of the length
to 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 setting out. A hand plant,
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 one set out in the next.
CULTIVATION OF THE CROP.
In about eight to ten days after the
plants are set out in the open field,
cultivation Should begin by running a
furrow on each side of the row with a
single horse turning plow. the bar of the
plow being run as closely as possible to
the plants without disturbing the roots
and SO endangering their vitality. This
leaves a narrow ridge with the plants
standing on it. Hoes are then brought
into requisition to scrap away any grass
or weeds that may nave made their ap-
pearance. 1t is a good pracCce to draw
a little dirt up around the plants after
breaking the. crust which generally
working is probably the most important.
For subsequent working cultivators may
be run a t intervals of a week or ten days
both ways through the tobacco. This is
is now the practice of the best tobacco
growers to use level cultivation. 1t was
once thought necessary to put sup
porting hill around each plant at the
first cultivation. This practice has been
abandoned because it diminishes the
area of range for the roots of the plants
and also lessons the amount of humidity
within reach of the roots and this hu-
midity grows more important as the
leaves expand. The land should never
be worked when it is wet. Wnen the
plants have attained a size that makes
it impossible to use a plow 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 qualiGa of the tobacco.-From
Virginia Carolina FERTILIZER Almanac.
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