Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-07-29

Little new machinery was purchased
for tobacco, but tools that had been
accumulated for the production Of
other crops were used.
Because Of their minor Importance
number of small items such as
thread, spray material, seed and
plants were put in one group. Ms
charge was made for wood for cur
ing. There Is an abundance of waste
wood in the area studied, and very
few farmers bought wood. Approx
mately one cord was used to cure
out each barn. The labor required
to cut and haul the wood was
charged at the same rate paid for
other labor.
The plant bed is usually prepared
in January. At this time Of the
year the farmer Is not pressed Tor
time, and those who are painstaking
sometimes spend several days pre-
pairing beds for small fields of to-
bacco. Some farmers locate their
bed in cultivated field. In this
case not much time is required to
prepare and sow the bed. Other
farmers go in the woods and clear
up all berry patches that require
a large amount of time for clear
ing and grubbing. Some farmers
haul wood, brush or rubbish and
burn their beds thoroughly, while
others do not burn their BEDS These
different practices in the prepare
ton Of the plant bed cause wide va.
ration in the amount of man labor
for this operation.
The preparation of the land, break
ing, putting out fertilizer and bed
ding is similar to preparation for
cotton and does not vary greatly.
The preparation is little more thor
ough than is the general practice
for cotton.
Only a small per cent of these
farmers used stable manure under
tobacco, but where it was used it
was applied in the drill by hand at
the rate of two to three tons per
acre.
Transplanting was usually done
by hand. A few farmers used plant
settlers and a few others used horse
transplanters. Where a horse trans
planter was used, a crew of five
men CT boys was required to operate
it. One man drove, two set the
plants and one man followed the
planter to reset plants not properly
set. One man kept the planter sup.
piled with plants. If the plants
Were watered, an additional man
was used to haul water. Usually
a supply of plants was pulled from
the bed before starting. When these
were set, more plants were pulled.
In some instances an extra person
or two was kept at the bed to pull
plants. Most of the tobacco was
transplanted. from the first to the
twentieth of" April.
Cultivation for tobacco was SINH
lar to that of cotton, with the ex-
ception that it was cultivated a
greater number Of times.
Poisoning and worming on some
farms was an important item. On
others, little worming was done.
Poisoning for the bud worm usually
began about two or three weeks aft
er the tobacco was transp1anted. One
to three applications were made
with a busting can. Rarely more
than three applications were made.
Usually about one application of
POl0oIl was uSSu dUOuL IL6 OIL
June for hornworms. A few farm
ers used poison in the form of
spray, but most of it was used in
the form of powder. On a few
farms, the worming was done while
topping and suckering.
Topping and suckering was an i'm
portant labor item on all farms.
Topping usually began abAt the
middle of June. Suckering would
begin about a week later. The suck
ers were removed two to four
times.
Harvesting required more man
labor than any other operation.
Twenty-eight per cent of the total
man labor was used to harvest the
crop and put it in the curing barn.
The printing method, which consists
of pulling few leaves from each
stalk as they ripen, was used ex.
clusively. Four to six primings were
made. Harvesting begins the mid
die to latter part of June and lasts
about two months. Since it is neces-
sary to fill the barn IN one day,
large crews were used. Eight to
twelve men, women, and children
were the most common size crews.
Usually three to four persons did the
printing WHILE two or three strung
the leaves on sticks and one person
hung the sticks in the barn. One
to two persons were required to