“IV. Early in May (in the main tobacco belt to which this article chiefly refers, that is to say, between the thirty-fifth and fortieth parallels of north latitude), re-plough the land to about the depth of the February ploughing, and drag and cross-drag, and, if need be, drag it again, until the soil is brought to the finest possible tilth. Thus you augment many fold the probabilities of a ‘stand’ on the first planting, and lessen materially the subsequent labour of cultivation. Plant on ‘lists’ (narrow beds made by throwing four furrows together with the mould-board plough) rather than in hills, if for no other reason than that having now, if never before, to pay wages in some shape to labour, whenever and wherever possible horse-power should be substituted for man-power—the plough for the hoe.
“V. Plant as early as possible after a continuance of pleasant spring weather is assured. Seek to have a forward crop, as the benefits claimed for a late one from the fall dews do not compensate for the many advantages resulting from early maturity. Make it an inflexible rule to plant no tobacco after the 10th of July—we mean, of course, in the tobacco belt we have named. Where one good crop is made from later planting ninety-nine prove utter failures. Far better rub out and start afresh the next year. Take pains in transplanting, that little or no replanting may be necessary. The cut-worm being a prime cause of most of the trouble in securing a stand, hunt it assiduously and particularly in the early morning when it can most readily be found.
“VI. Keep the grass and weeds down, and the soil loose and mellow by frequent stirring, avoiding as much as possible cutting and tearing the roots of the plant in all stages of its growth, and more especially after topping. When at all practicable—and, with the great improvement in cultivators, sweeps, and other farm implements, it is oftener practicable than generally supposed—substitute for hand-work in cultivation that of the horse. The difference in cost will tell in the balance-sheet at the close of the operation.
“VII. Attend closely to ‘worming,’ for on it hinges in no little degree the quality and quantity of tobacco you will have for sale. A worm-eaten crop brings no money. So important is this operation that it may properly claim more than a passing notice. Not only is it the most tedious, the most unremitting, and the most expensive operation connected with the production of tobacco, but the necessity for it determines more than all other causes the limit of the crop which in general it has been found possible for a single hand to manage. Therefore bring to your aid every possible adjunct in diminishing the number of worms. Use poison for killing the moth in the manner so frequently described in treatises on tobacco, to wit, by injecting a solution of cobalt or other deadly drug into the flower of the Jamestown or ‘jimson’ weed (Datura stramonium), if necessary planting seeds of the weed for the purpose. Employ at night the flames of lamps, of torches, or of huge bonfires, in which the moth may find a quick and certain death.
“In worming, spare those worms found covered with a white film or net-like substance, this being the cocoon producing the ichneumon-fly, an enemy to the worm likely to prove a valuable ally to the planter in his war of extermination.
“Turn your flock of turkeys into the tobacco-field, that they, too, may prey upon the pest, and themselves grow fat in so doing.
“If these remedies should fail, sprinkle diluted spirits of turpentine over the plant through the rose of a watering-pot, a herculean task truly in a large crop, but mere child’s play to the hand-picking process, for the one sprinkling suffices to keep off the worms for all time, whereas the hand-picking is a continual round of expensive labour from the appearance of the first worm until the last plant has been carried to the barn. We have no idea that such sprinkling will at all affect the odour or flavour of the tobacco when cured.
“If, as stated by a writer in a California paper, the well-known ‘yellow-jacket’ be useful in destroying tobacco-worms, by all means win it as an ally. As proving its usefulness, the writer asserts that one of his neighbours, a Mr. Culp, daring fifteen years growing tobacco, has never expended a dollar for labour to destroy the worm, trusting all to this little workman, who, he says, carefully searches the plants for the worms, and never allows one to escape its vigilance.
“We cannot speak from our own experience as to many of these suggested means for overcoming the horn-worm, but we have no hesitation in saying to the farmer, try any, try all of them rather than have your crop eaten to shreds, and the labour of more than half the year brought to naught in a few days, it may be, by a single ‘glut’ of worms.
“VIII. ‘Prime high and top low.’ While open to objection in particular cases, even with the character of tobacco chiefly under consideration, and altogether inadmissible, it may be, in the management of other varieties of tobacco, this is a safe rule, we think, to follow in general practice.