The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-22
TOBACCO NEARING
TRANSFER STAGE.
Weeks Points To Need Of
Skill And Care In Trans
planting Plants

A familiar sight on North Caro-
lima farms within the next few days
will be the transfer of young to.
bacco plants from the bed to the
field.
This operation, No. 2 in the long
series necessary to produce 9 crop,
requires care and skill, Lloyd
Weeks, tobacco specialist of the
State college Extension service, re-
minds Tar Heel growers.
Plants of uniform size should '3e
selected and transplanted at regu-
lar intervals. A distance of "a inches
between hills with the rows four
feet wide has proved to be most
satisfactory under average condi-
tons. On more fertile soils, even
closer spacing in the row will prove
more profitable.
About a week or ten days after
transplanting, the tobacco should be
gone over with a small %cultivator,
A hoe cultivation is usually neces-
sary at this time.
Following this first cultivation,
Weeks explained, the tobacco should
be cultivated each week or ten days
until a week prior to topping. At
each cultivation, the soil should be
broken thoroughly and the middles
scattered, are being taken not to
disturb the root systems when sid
ing.
The State college tobacco special
list said one of the best plows for
cultivating tobacco is a one-horse
turning pillow with a sweep at
tached to the shank by the bolt that
holds the moldboard or wing.
When the tobacco is small, the
soil can be thoroughly broken and
the attached sweep will push the
dirt around the plant. When the
plants are larger, a small moldboard
can be used and a longer sweep at
tached.
The third time a still larger mold
board or wing with a still longer
sweep should be used, and at the
last cultivation the largest mold
board or wing used on a one-horse
plow should be employed. This
should have a sweep about IS inches
long and 2 to 2 IA inches wide.
Weeks said usually it is sufficient
to scatter the middles with a sweep
Immediately after each siding. One
furroW to the row is sufficient ex,
cept for the second cultivation
which should have four burrows tc
the row. This should be done with
the turn pillow and a middle-sized
wing or moldboard in order to give
the soil a thorough breaking.
In case of a packing rain, the
tobacco will need to be plowed as
soon as the land can be cultivated.
This should be done, the State col
lese expert explained, even if the
field had been plowed one hour be-
fore the rain.
Fertilizers
Highly important in the produc.
ton of a good f%lue-cured tobacco
crop is the fertilizer used. The av.
erage tobacco grown in rotation and
preceded by corn or cotton should
be fortified with 500 to 1000 pounds
Of a 3-S-5 tobacco mixture.
The nitrogen should be derived
from one-fourth nitrate nitrogen,
o%ne-fourth ammonium nitrogen, one
fourth organic nitrogen, processed
from cottonseed meal, and one
fourth from an organic nitrogen
such as dried blood, tankage, or fish.
The phosphate should come from
16 per cent superphosphate or it's
equivalent, and the potash should
be derived from muriate, sulphate,
or sulphate of potash magnesia.
Weeks pointed out also that to-
bacco fertilizers should carry from
one to two per cent magnesium
oxide. The chlorine should not ex-
coed two per cent under average
soil conditions. There are a number
of minor elements necessary, but
they are contained in the above re.
quirements.
On soils where the tobacco nor
rnally grows too large. the State
college specialist advised a reduction
of the nitrogen in the fertilizer
mixture, even when the total mix
ture is reduced. In extreme cases,
the nitrogen should be left out com.
pletely.
When the tips of the leaves show
a reddish color in the field, the pot
ash of sulphate form should be in
creased in the formula. Often,
Weeks said, as much as 8 per cent
potash is necessary on some soils
where tobacco is grown.
TO RECEIVE MEDALS
NEW YORK, April 21.-(P)-GoId