piles, the roots being all kept together. After this they are carefully placed in baskets, or in the bed of a wagon, or in a transplanting machine, and taken to the field. The plant beds, after the first drawing of plants, demand some attention and care. Should the weather be dry and hot, they should be generously sprinkled with water thickened with cow manure, late every afternoon. For a few days it will be well to keep the canvas covering on the bed, for many small plants, being partially

uptorn in drawing those beside them, need to be reestablished.

The Manner of Setting by Hand.-A dropper with a basket of convenient size goes in advance, dropping plants upon each hill in two rows. Two setters, or planters, follow, each taking one row, see Figs. 21 and 22. A smooth, round peg, eight inches long and from one inch to one and one-half inches in diameter,

made of some hard seasoned wood, with a rounded point, is used for making a hole in the hill, of proper depth and size. The plant is then placed in position and the soil pressed compactly about the roots by the pressure of the planting peg against one side of the hole. The use of a hand plant is very convenient to the setter of tobacco. When he begins, he takes an extra plant in his left hand and adjusts its roots down

ward, while he is making the hole for the plant with the peg in his right hand. When this hand plant has been set in the first hill, he takes up the plant dropped on that hill and passes to the second, adjusting in his left hand as he moves from the first to the second hill, so as to be ready to thrust the roots into the hole made The plant on the second hill in like manner is carried to the third. Such an extra plant is

in the second hill.

called a "hand plant" and greatly facilitates the work of transplanting.

The test applied to determine the thoroughness of the work is to catch the top of a leaf, and pull it. If the tip breaks, the work is well done; if the plant is drawn up from the ground, it is evident that the planting has been imperfectly performed. Careful planting is very essential to insure a good stand and a ready growth. If the whole field is carefully set with plants. of uniform size, and the soil is of uniform fertility, and the cutworms are not troublesome, the very best con

FIG. 28. IMPROVED LOG BARN WITH NIPPED SHED.

ditions are secured for raising a crop of tobacco of uniform quality and size.

After setting, water the plants, unless the field is too large. Watering should be done late in the day or early in the morning, Fig. 25. If properly set and watered, nine out of ten will live. Some shade the plants with short grass or leaves, but on large fields this is impossible. If it rains soon after they are set, or if the ground is quite wet, the plants will soon take root and commence growing. If irrigation is possible, apply the water after transplanting, if soil is dry. Much depends upon having a good setting. If there are not

plants enough, get them somewhere else, if you can (they can generally be obtained for from fifty cents to one dollar per 1000), if you have a good time for setting. They will generally wilt down during the day, but if they look fresh in the morning, they will do well. A little plaster sprinkled on the leaves helps them at this time. Watering is almost essential if the plants are becoming too large in the beds. When it can be done economically, watering is preferred by many planters.

Replanting of the missing hills ought to be done. just as early after they are found as possible. Larger plants should be used for this purpose, and the greatest

FIG. 29. MODERN FRAMED BARN, CLARKSVILLE DISTRICT HEAVY LEAF.

effort should be made to give to every plant in the field an even start. Watering with liquid manure will help the backward plants. Don't make the liquid too strong; the leach from a manure pile, diluted with water, is good; or a teaspoonful of sulphate of ammonia and two spoonfuls of sulphate of potash dissolved in warm water and added to a barrel of water.

Machine Set Plants.-A much more expeditious, and in every way satisfactory, method of setting is to use a transplanting machine. It is a great labor-saving device, and enables the grower to plant a much larger area for the same, or even less, expense. A transplanter is a

two-wheeled machine drawn by two horses, but such a machine cannot be used where there are small stones or undecomposed vegetable matter on the ground. The land must be clean. It requires one man to drive and two boys to drop the plants. It plants one row at a time and can set from 3 to 6 acres per day, the amount set depending on the skill of the droppers and the space between the plants. In a few hours, operators of average intelligence will learn how to do good work, and in a few days very fast work. Plants are set with mathematical regularity at any desired distance, 15, 18, 23 or 30 inches apart. The machine carries a supply of water,

FIG. 30. END VIEW OF FRAMED BARN.

and the roots of each plant are thoroughly wet below the surface of the ground, while being set. This insures a far better start than can be obtained by hand setting, and, moreover, the grower is independent of the weather, and can set his plants whenever the land is prepared, regardless of rains. Machine-set tobacco plants start quicker, and grow and mature more evenly and quickly than hand-set plants. The machine can also be used for setting cabbage, strawberry, tomato and many other plants. Some of these machines make it unnecessary either to lay off the land in rows or to make