The Wilmington morning star., 1946-04-08

counties in growing Turkish to-
bacco last year are promising. In
fact, it appears that North Caro-
lima has a new cash crop for the
small, family-siZed farms in our
western section where the altitude
is about 5000 feet above sea level.
The production of Turkish tobacco
is, of course, still in the expert
mental stage but last year num-
Der of farmers grew up the crop
under close supervision and it
seemed to have done even better
out on the farms than it did On the
plots of the Tobacco Branch Sta
ton at Oxford.
Many requests for information
about this crop have been re-
ceived lately, and so the expert
ences of John Wilkins as extension
worker in charge of this project
will be of interest. Mr.. Wilkins
maintains his headquarters at
West Jefferson in Ashe county and
because of the expansion of pro-
duction this year, he has been CIV
en- an assistant, Roy Grouse, for
merly farm agent in Ashe.
Grows In State
1t was thought, formerly, that
this Turkish tobacco would thrive
only in certain areas around the
Mediterranean and Black Seas.
However, in the past five years,
considerable research has been
conducted at the Oxford Branch
station under the direction of Gene
Moss, superintendent there, in CO.
operation with members of the
State College Department OF
Agronomy, and by scientists Of
Duke university. These folks have
proved that Turkish tobacco can
be grown in this part of the United
States and that the leaf SO pro-
duced is of excellent quality.
With these facts established I'm
der controlled conditions at the
Experiment station, it was next
necessary to find out if high
quality leaf could be produced
out on an everyday sort of farm
under actual farming conditions.
Experimental Acres
One-fourth acre plots were there
fore located with farmers in Hay
wood, Ashe, and Allegheny coun-
ties where the farms were at an
altitude of 5000 feet above the sea
level. The farms used were
selected by DR.. E. r. Collins
head of agronomy extension al
State college, and by F. R. Darkis
of Duke university, working al
ways with the local farm agent.
These men first inspected ths
farms to study their sizes, the type
of soil, and the facilities for grow
ing and handling the crop. The
importance of the new projec'
was carefully explained and a
number of good farmers became
interested right away. The plant
beds, were then seeded just as
they are for our flue-cured or
hurley.
Loans Chosen
The tobacco was then planted on
soils known as Watauga Loan,
Clifton Loan, lakewood Loan
Mosada Loam,- and Hayesville
Clay Loan. The fields used had q
slope of from 10 to 80 per cent or
an average of about 20 per cent
and from $1,000 to 10000 plants
were set per acre being planted in
rows just 20 inches apart and the
plants spaced only 5 IL inches
apart on the row.
Each farmer growing this new
Turkish tobacco seeded from 80
to 100 square yards of plant bed
so that he might have all the
plants needed to set his one-fourth
acre within the space of few
days. This resulted in uniform
growth and uniform ripening as
the leaves were primed. The
plants were set on the side of a
slight ridge made by using a ten
inch shoven on a single stock pillow.
The tobacco was transplanted from
the bed to the open field around
May IL to May 81 and harvesting
began on July 10 and continued
until September % which was the
last date of printing on any farm.
It took from five to six primings
to harvest the crop completely.
Bud Worms
Worms like to eat the Turkish
tobacco just as they do any other
kind but last year only the bud
worms attacked the crop very
seriously. These were poisoned
and brought under control almost
Immediately. Only a few horn
worms showed up in the fields and
these were picked off by hand.
The leaves of the Turkish to-
bacco we're primed and brought to
convenient table, either in the
shade of tree, or under near
by shed. A large needle, about
Is inches long, was used to string
the leaves, running the string
through the large mid-rib and then
fastening it to a stick 4 IL feet
long. The leaves were allowed to
wilt or yellow in a shed and then
the sticks were put out on racks
directly in the sunshine. These
racks were moved back into the
shed at night or whenever cloud
appeared On the horizon with dan
ger of rain: The leaves were never
allowed to get wet. From 1000
to 1000 sticks were required for
the leaves harvested from one