Sowing-time having arrived, the nursery is divided into beds, most conveniently, 10 ft. long and 5 ft. wide, making 50 sq. ft. each, on which plants for ½ acre can easily be raised. As, even with a small tobacco plantation, several days are required for transplanting, all the beds should not be sown at one time, but at intervals of a few days. This will also lessen the risk of the young plants being all destroyed by a storm, insects, &c. Before sowing the seed, the soil is dug over to the depth of 6 inches, and levelled with a rake. The seed must then be sown evenly on the surface, and beaten down slightly with the hand or otherwise. The seed being very small, many cultivators mix it with ashes, or pulverized gypsum, in order to distribute it regularly over the bed. The seed must be covered only slightly, best done by strewing a little fine compost manure over it. Ants, which often destroy the seeds, may be kept off by sprinkling some ashes over the bed. Finally cut straw may be scattered over the surface. In India, to protect the nursery from the sun and rain, the whole is covered with a roof made of straw, leaves, or cloth, supported by poles, at only a few feet above the ground. The soil must be kept constantly moist, but not wet; weak liquid manure may be used for watering. Much time is saved by starting the seed in a warm room before sowing.
The plants, which will appear about a week after sowing, are very tender during the first stage of their growth, and require frequent watering through a fine rose. The straw will now prevent the water falling with any force immediately on the plants, and its tendency to wash the soil from the fine rootlets. If the plants spring up thickly, they are thinned out, when about a week or two old, leaving about 1 sq. in. for each. Those taken out may be used to fill blanks in the nursery bed, or, if more plants are taken out than are required for this purpose, they should be planted in a separate bed. It is universally acknowledged that plants transplanted when very young develop more roots, grow more vigorously, and become more hardy afterwards, than when not transplanted at this stage. When the plants are about two weeks old, they require less attention, and should be watered less frequently, to harden them before transplanting. Any weeds appearing must be removed, and injurious insects must be killed. In about 7–8 weeks after sowing, the plants will be fit for transplanting.
Bowie, a Maryland planter, gives his experience in the following words:—“After a thorough burning of brush, dig deep, and continue to dig, rake, and chop until every clod, root, and stone be removed; then level and pulverize nicely with a rake. As to the variety to plant, I think the Cuba is a very good kind for our climate. The Connecticut seed-leaf is the best, but culture has more than anything else to do with the quality. Mix 1 gill of seed for every 10 square yards with a quart of plaster or sifted ashes, and sow it regularly in the same manner that gardeners sow small seeds, only with a heavier hand; roll with a hand-roller or tramp it with the feet. If the bed is sown early, it ought to be covered with brush free from leaves; but it is not necessary to cover it after the middle of March. Tobacco-beds may be sown at any time during the winter if the ground be not too wet or frozen. The best time for sowing is from the 10th to the 20th of March, though it is safest to sow at intervals, whenever the land is in fine order for working. Never sow unless the land is in good order, for the work will be thrown away if the land be too moist or be not perfectly prepared. The beds must be kept free from grass or weeds, which must be picked out one at a time by the fingers. It is a tedious and troublesome operation, therefore you should be very careful not to use any manures on your beds which have grass or weed-seeds in them. After the plants are up, they should receive a slight top-dressing of manure once a week, sown broadcast by the hand. This manure should be composed of ½ bushel of unleached ashes (or 1 bushel of burnt turf), 1 bushel of fresh virgin woods-earth, 1 gallon of plaster, ½ gallon of soot, 1 quart of salt dissolved in 2 gallons of liquid from barnyard, and 4 lb. of pulverized sulphur, the whole well intermixed. Let a large quantity be got together early in the spring, or winter rather, and put away in barrels for use when wanted. This, and other such mixtures, have been found efficacious in arresting the ravages of the fly—both from the frequent dusting of the plants and the increased vigour which it imparts to them, thereby enabling the plant the sooner to get out of the tender state in which the fly is most destructive to it. The fly is a small black insect, somewhat like the flea, and delights in cold, dry, harsh weather, but disappears with the mild showers and hot suns of opening summer. If possible, the plants should stand in the bed from ½ inch to 1 inch apart, and if they are too thick they must be raked when they have generally become as large as 5 or 10-cent pieces. The rake proper for the purpose should be a small common rake, with iron teeth 3 inches long, curved at the points, teeth flat, and ⅜ inch wide, and set ½ inch apart.”
Schneider, whose success as an Illinois planter has already been mentioned, expresses himself thus:—“Raising tobacco-plants from seed is somewhat similar to raising cabbage-plants, but is different in two important things: It takes considerably more time for the seed to sprout (six weeks), and, on account of disturbing the roots, cannot well stand weeding. Therefore the principal care in providing the seed-bed is, to prepare for the early starting of the seed, and to have the bed free from all weed-seeds. In the West we prepare the seed-bed in the following manner: we take a plot of land—newly cleared land is preferred—sloping southward, and protected against winds. The bed should be 4 feet broad and 8 feet long; on this we pile brush, wood, and heavy logs, sufficient to keep up a strong fire for at least one hour, and burn it. When the coals begin to die out, or before the soil is cold, the bed is cleared off, and only the fine ashes are left; then it is hoed thoroughly and as deep as the strongest heat has penetrated, after which it is raked cross and lengthwise, until the soil is entirely pulverized. Everything that might hinder the growing of the plants, and their taking out afterwards, is carefully removed. On this bed a thimbleful of seed, well mixed with a few handfuls of ashes or earth, is sown broadcast, and tramped in with the feet, or slapped with the under side of the spade or any other suitable instrument. After this, the bed is thoroughly wetted with a weak manure-water, 12 lb. of hen-droppings, or 1 lb. of soot in 10 gallons of water, and lightly covered with straw. The seed-bed does not need much attention at first, if the weather remains mild; but if there is danger of night-frosts, a layer of brush must be made, and on this a layer of straw 2 to 4 inches thick, according to the degree of frost. The straw is removed in the morning, and put on again at evening, leaving it off entirely when the nights are mild. Although the seed-bed is ready now, it must not be left to itself, and requires some care. The plants must always have sufficient moisture, and if timely rains do not fall, they must be watered with weak liquid manure as often as needed. Should weeds appear, notwithstanding all precautions, they must be removed with the utmost care. The above-mentioned quantity of seed is sufficient to raise plants for one acre.
“Whoever is in possession of a hot-bed can raise the plants much easier; he can sow later and have plants earlier and with more certainty. But even the common bed may be made into a kind of hot-bed. The burned and hoed surface soil is removed and put on one side, then one foot of fresh horse-dung is laid on the subsoil, and the surface soil put back again. Boards may be placed around, cross-pieces laid over them, and the straw covering put on these.
“The earlier the young plants are ready for transplanting the surer the tobacco crop will be. March is the latest to make the seed-bed in the open air, and June the latest for transplanting. Some time may be gained by keeping the seed in damp earth in the room, and sow it in the seed-bed just before it commences to sprout.”
Having selected a suitable location, says White, a Connecticut grower, “next consider how large a bed you will need. That depends on the surface you intend to plant out. A bed 2 rods long, by 12 feet wide, will produce a sufficient number of good plants to set an acre. On such a bed you should spread a heavy coat of good, fine, well-rotted manure, at least 2 inches thick; let it be free from straw or other litter. Then, with a good strong back, and long-handled spade (or other as you prefer), spade up the bed, mixing in the manure very fine. Have ready some fine dry brush, or the like, and spread over the whole surface; set it on fire and burn to ashes. A small quantity will answer better than a very large one, for if very much is burned, it is apt to do injury by burning the soil. The less quantity will tend to destroy any foreign seed turned up, and warm the ground. Having reduced the brush to ashes, take a fine iron or steel rake, and proceed to pulverize very finely the whole surface spaded up. After reducing it to as fine a state as possible, and having made it flat and level, leave it till the next day. Then, with your rake, carefully rake over the whole bed; it is now ready for the seed. Sow the seed on broadcast; be careful to sow it even and true. About two thimblefuls, or a little less, will be sufficient for such a bed. It is better to have too little than too much, as in the first instance, the plants will have room to form thick stalky roots and well-spread leaves, while in the latter they will be crowded with spindling tops as well as small roots. Having sowed your seed, take a good heavy garden-roller and roll the surface down hard and smooth. In the absence of a roll, a very good substitute can be made by taking a piece of 2-inch plank, say 18 inches long by 14 inches wide; in the centre, place an upright handle. With this spat the bed over, being careful to do it evenly, and to leave the surface solid and level, the reasons for which you will afterward discover in weeding and taking out plants to set in the field. This should be done in the spring, as soon as the ground will permit, say first of April, if the frost is out and the ground settled. The roll or spatter will cover the seed sufficiently without any other covering. To be able to sow the seed with the least trouble, mix it in thoroughly with wood-ashes or plaster, before sowing. To obtain plants earlier, you can mix your seed thoroughly in about a quart of light chip dirt from under your wood-shed; put it in some proper vessel, and wet to the consistence of soft putty, with water as warm as can be well borne by the hand. Set it on the mantle-shelf in the kitchen, not too near the stove or fire, but where it will keep warm. In the course of a week or ten days, the seed will have cracked the shell, and will show the small white germ or sprout. It should now be sowed broadcast very evenly, and treat as before described. If properly wet at first, it will need no more water to sprout the seed. Before sowing, pulverize the mass containing the seed, to facilitate the sowing. Having thus sown and rolled down your bed very nicely, it is well to have something to protect it from the encroachment of the fowls. For this purpose, spread a net of twine or a few brush over the surface, covering it so that they may not disturb the surface by scratching and wallowing. It may now be left till the weeds begin to make their appearance; these you will need to extract by the roots as soon as the plants can be distinguished; these last may be known by two very small nearly round leaves opening over flat on the ground. Now procure a plank or some substitute a little longer than your bed is wide, also two blocks 5 or 6 inches square, as long or longer than your plank is wide; place one on one side of the bed, the other on the opposite side; on these two blocks place your plank, and you will have a fine platform on which you can sit and weed any part, or all, of your bed, by moving it as occasion may require. To assist in pulling out the weeds, procure a moderately sharp-pointed knife, and with the same grasped in the hand with the thumb near the point, pinch out the weeds, being careful not to disturb the dirt any more than absolutely necessary. The process of weeding must be repeated as often as necessary, to keep the bed clean from weeds.”
Fig. 4.
Obviously, no frost must be allowed to reach the seedbed when once sowing has taken place. To prevent this, and for another purpose to be described presently, Perry Hull advises the construction of a straw mat, as shown in Fig. 4, which is very light to handle, easily made, and sufficiently strong to last one season. It is made “by laying a scantling (6 feet long, 1½ inches wide, ¾ inch thick) upon the barn floor; place a layer of good straight rye-straw upon it, so that the scantling will come about in the middle of the straw, then another layer with the tips the other way, that it may be of uniform thickness in all its parts (about 1½ inches thick). Place a similar scantling exactly over it, and with sixpenny nails, nail them tight; with an axe trim both edges straight, and to a width of 3 feet, and the mat is made. With these the beds should be covered every night, cold or warm; in the daytime they should be set up at the north side of the bed, at an angle of about 65 degrees, by driving crotches just inside of the bed, for the end of the scantling to rest in, the lower edge of the mat resting on the ground, outside the bed.