The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1917-01-03
DIRECTIONS FOR
TOBACCO BEDS
J. M. JONES EXPERT FOR Alb. &
A. ny. OUTLINES PLANS FOR
MAKING STAR IN TOBACCO
GROWING.

ness uuTllB II. DlIeCtohs Aolio"'
Location and Size of Bed.
A gentle slope to the south or east
is preferaBlel Thessoil must be of new
land-black, moist hammock land,
well enough drained SO that no water
will stand ob the bed for any length
of time, il fpreferred. 400 square
yards of bed may be counted on to
produce 10000, or enough for two
or two and bne-half acres, But it is
best to hasel two beds reproduce the
plants REQUIRED rather than rely on
one bed, making the sowings from one
to two weeks apart. This decreases
the chancessof complete failure in
plants. a.
Mapping the Bed.
Remove al prowth and cut the large
stulls about six inches above the sur
face. Rake off all leaves and brush
and grub Thoroughly.
The principal purpose of burning
the bed is to kill all weed seeds II
also improves the filth of the soil
thereby GsIsin gthe plants to grow
faster and-more uniformly The brush
used in burning should be fine enough
to lay coinpactly and should contain
sufficient dry material to burn readily,
Begin to Jay the brush along the up
per side of the bed, piling 1t to q
depth of about three feet. Follow this
method until the entire bed is cover
ed with compact LAWYER of brush. Il
the brush is not laid straight and com
pactly in the piles, with the rows par
allel to- each other, it will be difficult
to bur nthe bed satisfactorily.
In order to burn the soil thorough
ly, the fires should last from twenty
to thirty minutes on any given area
AS. the burning nears completion, il
will be found encessary to nave the
Goals onto areas here and there tha'
were not thoroughly burned by the
burning of the pile as whole.
Before lighting the pile, it is well
to throw green boughs over the dry
brush. On top of this green brush
throw heavy poles to weight the brusl
down to the soil. This retains the
heat. It5is, best to light the fire at sew
eral places along the side opposite
from which the wind is blowing Thus
should the wind be blowing from the
South, the fire should be lighted OF
the northern side. This will result il
a slower and more thorough burning
When=. thoroughly burned, the sol
viii besdried to a depth of one tc
two inchesg
Preparation of the Seed Bed.
All Goals and ashes should be raket
off. Th@bad should then be thorough
ly workeds up to depth of 8 to (
inches by@means of 1scootering, har
rowing, .raking and srouuing out the
surface roots and stumps.
The bed.should be fortified liberal
ly, so pounds cotton seed meal and q
to SO pounds 16 per cent acid phos
plate tozthe 100 square yards. Rake
in with hand rake, leavink the Lane
fine and level for seeding. Mark of
the bed lightly. both ways, with lines
about sixfeet apart. ) These lines are
to be used as guides in sowing the
seed. One and one-half tablespoonful
of sed are sufficient for 100 square
yard s.Mix these seed thoroughly will
about peck of acid phosphate being
careful too make an even mixture o.
seed with the acid. This can best be
done by putting in measure or buck
ct twd-ipch layer OF, acid, then sprin
kle part Of seed. them another layer o.
acid and seed, and SO on. Then thor
oughly mix over and over.
Divide the mixture of sed and fer
tilizer m half, sowing one part over
the bed!in one direction. guided by the
six-foot spaces, and The osher part il
the otlIers direction. Firm the seed
into the ground by tramping, tamping
or rollihga Care must be taken not tc
cover too peeply.
Souuruhd the bed with poles, small
logs orsboards.
About February the first, stretch
over the bed cover of cheese cloth
or plant bed cloth which has been pre-
viously spwed together to the proper
size toAft the bed. The cloth can be
kept from sagging to the ground il
the center by means of galvanized
wire stretched from side to side or by
means Of timber twigs setting in tbs
ground An4 the form of wickets.
Just before putting on the cloth, il
is gqodI plan to sprinkle over the
bed abqpG5 pounds Of nitrate of soda
to EACH 100 square yards.
UndeE average conditions, but little
furthert attention need be given the
bed until the time of resetting except
that the cover should be removed
when the plants are about half grown.
But in THE event of protracted dry
J,