The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1910-04-14
i arm ano
Garden
TOBACCO AREA SPREADING.
Troubles In Tennessee and Kentucky
Cause Activity Elsewhere.

Troubles In Tennessee and Kentucky
Cause Activity Elsewhere.
Since the night riding affairs in Ten.
nessee and Kentucky the tobacco
growing industry has been spreading
in other states. Missouri. for instance
reports an enormously increased acre.
age for last year. with prospects of a
still further increase this season. To
bacco is by no means confined to the
south. Connecticut. it is well known
grows magnificent tobacco. The leaf
from the Connecticut river valley vies
with that of Cuba and Porto Rico as
a. wrapper for cigars.
In view of the spread of the tobac-
co industry the following suggestions
as to seed are of interest:
Tobacco seed rarely terminates over
Is per cent and often as low as 40 per
cent, making it necessary to test the
tobacco seed to be used for sowing
plant beds, according to information
being sent out by the horticultural de-
partment of the College of Agriculture
Of the University of Wisconsin. Some
years the seed is of especially low vi
tally. and if such seed is used in plant
beds poor plants are secured, which
cannot produce good crop. The seed
harvested last fall was poor, due to the
early frost.
Tobacco seed should be cleaned by
separating from it the light seed and
foreign material. A simple method of
testing is to place mOistened blOtter
or thick cloth on a dinner plate and on
to it count definite number of seeds.
preferably 100 or 200. Another mois-
tened blotter or cloth should be placed
over the seeds, which should then be
covered with another plate and set in
warm place slightly above room tenn
perature and moistened occasionally.
In five to seven days most of the
living seeds will have sprouted, and
the percentage that are alive may be
determined by counting. If the seed
is poor. growers should secure better
seed or use larger amount of the
poor seed. subsequently thinning the
plants in the beds until only the
healthy plants remain.
Large crops of tobacco can only be
secured by setting vigorous plants, and
the yield is too often reduced by neg
lect of seed testing by growers. Where
a large amount of seed is to be clean
ed special seed cleaning machine
oh In.
been designed at the Wisconsin expert
ment station and is described in bulle-
tin 176. which can be had upon appli-
cation to the station.
Cheap Protection From Lightning.
AS from 700 to 800 people are killed.
twice as many injured and an immense
amount of property destroyed by light
ming every year. Professor Henry of
the weather bureau thinks more attens
ton should be given to protection from
lightning. The professor has recently
prepared a paper on this subject, and
it has been published as farmers bull
letin No. 367 of the United States de-
partment of agriculture. In explain
ing what lightning is and how to pre-
vent buildings from being struck he
gives an instructive elementary dis
cussion of electricity, conductors and
nonconductors. positive and, negative
Identification and electricity in thun-
derstorms. 1t is the practical part of
this paper, however. which will appeal
most strongly to the farmers of the
country. Professor Henry shows how
lightning rods that are ''inexpensive.
yet effective" may be put up by any
body. The following is his list of the
necessary materials: Enough galva-
nized iron telegraph wire to serve for
the rod. pound of galvanized iron
staples to hold the wire in place, a few
connecting tees and pound of alu-
minimum paint. He says. while iron
is not so good a conductor as copper.
it is less likely to cause dangerous
side flashes. and it also dissipates the
energy of the lightning fash more eff
fectively than does the copper"