Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-05-29

On some soils under certain con-
ditions it is difficult to tell just
when to begin stripping. Usually the
bottom leaves, 'or sand Jugs as they
are commonly called, are the first
to turn green to a yellowish color.
The fuzzy, sticky feeling disappears
and the leaves begin to feel smooth
and Velvety as compared with those
higher up which are both fuzzy and
sticky. At the first gathering take
off two or three leaves at the bot
tom. The first printing and the
last do not bring as good prices as
the other iprimings. The tobacco
grower tries to have just as small
| an amount of sand Jugs and tips
| as possible. Do not mix them with
| the other gatherings. The field will
| need to be gone over once week I'M
til all of the leaves are removed.
| Usually about four or five times in
| all. Sometimes the seasons are sucn
| that the tobacco ripens rapidly, in
which case it may be necessary to
| ings to prevent loss by burning on
the stalk. Use good judgment in
| gathering and do not gather green
| tobacco that will stand over for an
leaves burning. Remember that
green tobacco has no friends on the
market The buyers do not want it
at any price If the tobacco is over
ripe it will be lacking in quality and
will be dead and lifeless.
| The first gathering of tobacco is
about the first of June, if the crop
is set the first part of April and
cultivated properly. However, diff
ference in weather conditions will
| cause a few days variation. After
the first gathering it will be nee
less the weather has been very dry
for some time. If a good rain fol"
! lows a drought the tobacco may take
on new growth and make it neces-
sary to delay gathering for ten days
or two weeks. Always look for the
| green to yelloWish color and the vel
vety feeling of the leaf. Burned,
trashy, or otherwise Worthless leaves
should be left in the field. The cost
of labor is too high and time too
valuable to handle tobacco that is no
good. If good Judgment is used in
harvesting very little grading will
| be necessary.
The tobacco is usually carried to
the curing barn in packets or sleds.
! The baskets used for carrying tobac-
co from the field to the barn are two
feet wide, three feet long and eigh-
teen to twenty inches high. These
baskets may be made from, white oak
splits and should be rigid enough
so that they may be stacked one
upon the other when full of tobacco.
|
utes by any farmer. In Georgia, in
most cases, an ordinary sled is used.
| The sled should not be over 241nches
wide to pass easily between the rows
of tobacco and six to eight feet long;
Ordinary crocus sacks may be used
for the sides and ends. The sleds
cannot be turned around in the
fields readily and should be so Goa
structed that the mule may be
hitched to either end. -
Have the gatherers prime a few
rows on either side of the sled, crop
ping off about the same number of
| leaves from the bottom Of every
plant and putting them in the sled.
| When the sled is full, send 1t to the
barn and have another mule and SLED
take it's place so that the choppers
may be. kept busy.
At the barn there should be sup
ply of sticks about 1 1-3 inches
square and just long enough (about
tier poles. This is important as a
stick filed with tobacco may fall
on the kues and cause the barn to
burn. For this reason split sticks
are preferable as they never break
from the weight of the tobacco.
attach the leaves to the stick. Fast
en- the string to one end of the stick
and then begin the wrapping by
bringing the string around two or
TOUR leaves OF one sue VI tie sICn
and then the same number of leaves
on the other side, Keep this up un-
til the stick is full on both sides.
The end of the string is then tied to
the stick. In the wrapping process
keep the string on top of the stick
filled hang them up il the barn, fill
ing the top of the barn first. In
hanging the tobacco be careful not to
bruise it. The bruised spots will
cure dark and, therefore, injure the
quality.
Tobacco should be gotten into the
curing barn without excessive wilt
ing or long exposure to the sun and
wind. If the leaves are exposed to
the sun too long after they are gath
Handling the Peanut Crop
J. J. L., Albany, Ga. writes:
I wish some information on the
growing of peanuts. My lands
are mostly heavy red lands, but
I have some light, sandy loam
with clay subsoil. wish to know
if it will pay to fertil1ze the
Peanuts should be fortified or
acid and potash. It is seldom NEG
essary to use nitrogen as this
crop, being a legume, should be
able to secure what 1t needs of this
element from the air. The natural
phoric acid makes the application
of this element especially desir
able. Potash is also used freely by
peanuts. Hence, it. is a desirable
material, or element to use under
this crop. Its high price has mill.
tated against it's use in recent years
but even now we think some of it-cal
probably be added to the soil with
good results. We suggest that you
apply, therefore, a minimum OF
of acid phosphate and from fifty
to one hundred pounds of kainit pei
acre. You should also lime the 1and
on which you expect to grow pea
nuts. Apply not less than one
rock per acre. Put the lime on al
any time from this date forward
but do not mix it with the fer
tilizer
SELECTING COTTON SEED
NJ. c. P, Atlanta. Ca, writes:
I have been planting Wanamaker
cotton in Wilkes county and
making fair crops. The yield
has been as high as AZ per cent.
am planting in jTwiggs county
this year, where the rain and the
weevil completely destroyed the
crops last year. Would it be ad,
visab1e to use this same seed
in Twiggs county or can you sug-
gest an earlier variety? L can
get Bank Account for $3.50 and
Kings at $2.75. Do you think
this price is high?
According to our experience vari
Gus strains of Cleveland Big Boil
have proven to be as early maturing
varieties of cotton under Georgia
conditions as any other of the strain:
that we have tested up to this time
We do not believe that the Cleveland
Big Boil strains will mature quite
as early as College No. l.. On th'
other hand, we do not believe you