The Richmond climax. (Richmond, Ky.) 1897-1914, 1913-06-20
A Treatise on The Cultivation
of Tobacco.

The Farmers Union OF Madison coun-
ty invited Hon. Silas Shelbourne, of
Lexington, to address the club here
Saturday but he was unable to come,
much TO the disappointment of the
members of the Union. However, he
did the next best thing, e, wrote on
the subject, THE Cultivation of Tabac-
CO, which we publish at the request of
the farmers:
First, we will begin with the seed
which should be selected from varieties
which have proven most profitable in
your selection. They should be we'll
cleaned and all the inferior and chaffy
ones taken out. This is a survival of
the iittest. and should be regarded as
very important in the perpetuation of
all the vegetable and animal kingdom.
Sow only the best seed and raise only the
best stock.
After your plant beds have been well
burnt and prepared, very small
amount of fertilizer might be sowed and
worked into the ground to give the plant
little start.
The principal working of the tobacco
land should be done before the crop is
planted, and right here we think that
big improvements cah be made in the
cultivation of the most of your crops. /
am decidedly of the opinion that deep
plowing is advisable. 1t may not al
but in order TO break the ground deep
enough, the sub soil plow should be us
ed. In this way you can make deep
bed from IL TO Is inches which will
give sufficient moisture TO make good
crops The cutting harrow should al
ways follow Immediately after the plow.
In order to keep your land from drying
out, it should be worked quite often,
certainly after each rain to prevent it
from baking or forming crust, espe-
cially in dry weather. This mulching
of the top brings the moisture to the
surface. An old planter in Virginia
once told me that he did not let his land
get well dry. He said it was like man
climbing out of an old-fashioned we'll
so long as he could reach across he
could climb up but when it got so
broad that he could not reach across he
had to stop. The moisture, like the
man, will continue to rise so long as ii
can reach across, but when the ground
is too open or baked, it will have to
stop.
Where land is very loose it is advisa-
BILE to roll it before planting your tobac-
CO. 1t is undoubtedly best to plant with
the machine, but if by hand great care
should be taken to see that the root of
the plant goes straight down into the
ground, and that the dirt is pressed up
close to it. have known crops ruined
by bad setting. AS to the distance it
should be planted, on good land in order
to keep the plant from getting too
coarse it is best not to plant over four
teen inches apart The rows should be
three feet, eight or ten inches apart.
In the cultivation of the crop care
should be taken to avoid breaking the
roots of the plant. To do this it requires
very shallow ploughing after the plants
get of any size, but it should be worked
often. 1t should be remembered that it
is much easier 10 kill a small weed than
a big one. You can safely calculate that
the roots grow out as fast as The leaves.
The topping of the crop requires some
judgment, but think it is more often
topped too low than too high. On early
tobacco some of the most successful
growers only break out the bud.
AS to the suckering ! really know but
little, but will give you Mr. Jack
Chinn's lone sucker" method let any
who choose try it. After the suckers
are all out on the plant from the top to
the bottom he pulls them all out clean
except the smallest one in the top, that