Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1906 — FARM AND GARFEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARFEN

TOBACCO GROWING. Intereatln* Point* In the Culture of the Dark Tobacco of Virginia. By Messrs. M’NESS and MATTHEWSON, tobacco experts, bureau of soils. The dark shipping tobacco Is generally raised on rich lands and cured with open wood fires. England, France. Germany, Spain, Austria and Italy Jake the bulk of this tobacco, although the higher grades are used at home for plug wrappers. This tobacco is produced to greater or less extent throughout the tobacco belt of Virgin-

ia, but the most of It is grown south of James river in territory extending from Petersburg on the east across the Piedmont plateau to the edge of the Blue Ridge, with Lynchburg and Petersburg as the most important market centers. In Virginia the practice is to follow tobacco with wheat and the wheat with clover for two years and then back to tobacco. On the tobacco It .Is the custom to apply per acre 400 pounds of a fertilizer analyzing 8 per cent ammonia, 9 per cent phosphoric acid and 3 per cent potash. This adds to the soil a total of twelve pounds of ammonia, thirty-six pounds of phosphoric acid and twelve pounds of potash per acre. It Is noticeable that the requirements of tobacco for phosphoric acid are very small, but as a matter of field practice it Is found that the crop will show signs of suffering from lack of this substance unless the available supply is very much in excess of the amount actually taken up by the crop. Where wheat follows tobacco no additional fertilization is given, dependence being solely upon the natural resources of the soil and the remnant of the application given the tobacco. It is seldom that more than ten or fifteen bushels of wheat to the acre Is harvested. Tobacco is a crop that with fin increase in yield usually gives a corresponding increase in quality, provided the soil conditions and management are right. It has often been found that it pays to apply very large amounts of fertilizer to a tobacco crop 'where it might not have proved profitable to do so with other and lower priced farm crops. The Virginia farmers generally cultivate their crops deeply, thus injuring the root system which is spreading near the surface. The rule is to give tlip tobacco three cultivations, using a one horse implement (the first two with a double shovel plow and the last with a turning plow), and two hoeings by hand. Except in the case of low lying fields, where there is danger from standing water, it is best to discard the turning plow entirely and use nothing but implements for shallow cultivation. This has been fully demonstrated in recent experiments where the efficiency and profitableness of frequent and shallow cultivation of tobacco have been studied. The shovel plow may be used to advantage and is recommended for the first cultivation. At this time the roots of the plants have not spread into the row and the soil is likely to be packed from heayy rains and from tramping it at the time of setting. Deep, thorough breaking out of the middles is to lie

advised at this time, and the double shovel plow with narrow blades is about the best tool available. As the plants grow and the roots begin to occupy the soil between the rows deep cultivation should be stopped and frequent shallow cultivation substituted. For this purpose a five toothed cultivator (Fig. 60), with an eighteen inch sweep and a depth regulating attachment, is recommended. This will keep down the weeds and preserve an effectual soli mulch, which retards surface evaporation with-, out doing Injury to the roots. About six cultivations are necessary to keep the soil in good tilth, or an average of onfr a week between the setting and topping seasons, the soil being worked a little toward the plant at each cultivation. Cap* For Haycock*. For the benefit of those who are unwilling to purchase caps for covering the cock* we wish to say that alfalfa, properly cocked, will shed water just as well as clover—ln fact, many farmers claim that It wllj shed water even better and that It is no more difficult to cure than clover In any season. While this may be true, we urge the use of caps for the reason that alfalfa is so much more valuable than cloyer, and a little extra expense in this line Is money well 'lnvested.—Farmers' Trib une.

BOOT SYSTEM OF TOBACCO PLANT.

CULTIVATOR WITH ATTACHMENTS.