to the plant by a turning plow. The advantage of the last method is that the plants are not so easily blown down during heavy rains, should such rains be accompanied with wind. On the other hand, level culture is the best for dry weather. The truth seems to be that the one or the other is to be preferred, as the season may be dry or wet. A practice recently introduced, which partakes of both, is to run a narrow harrow across the ridges, leaving a square bank of earth about each plant. In some portions of the heavy-tobacco district in Virginia, no hills are made to receive the plants. After the land has been pulverized by deep harrowing, it is rolled, then checked and planted. The after culture is all level, with but little work with the hoe. On high, rolling, porous lands, this method is probably the best, for level culture retains the moisture and prevents, in some degree, the washing away of the soils in times of excessive rains. In the preparation of the soil, in the planting of the crop, or in the after cultivation of the crop, one caution must be emphasized, that clayey lands must never be stirred when wet. The baking of the soil, which results, often proves disastrous to the healthy growth of the plant. Topping, Worming and Suckering Tobacco.-Topping, Fig. 86, is not a difficult task, but it requires some skill and practice, and is highly important that it be performed at the proper time. Six weeks from the time the plant is set in new ground, and eight weeks after it is set in old ground, the seed bud should appear in a majority of plants, after good cultivation and seasonable weather. These seed, or terminal buds, are called " buttons." Topping is performed by pinching out these terminal buds, leaving eight, ten or twelve leaves to the plant, as the judgment of the planter may determine. Topping should not be deferred until the plants are in blossom, but should be done just as soon as the required number of leaves can be secured. The leaves coming out from the stalk within six inches of the ground, should not be counted, and they are primed off or left on, as one may be an advocate of priming, or The arrangement of the leaves about the stalk in pairs makes it easy to top without counting. If ten leaves are to be left on each plant, then the upper opposed to it. FIG. 92. SCREW PRESS FOR PRIZING TOBACCO, WITH HOGSHEAD IN leaves will hang directly over the lower ones. The quality of the product is greatly influenced by the number of leaves left upon the plant. The majority of planters of the heavy-tobacco districts have long been of the opinion that not more than ten leaves should be left. A very intelligent minority advocates the leaving of only eight, and some interesting experiments seem to favor this number. It is said that on rich soils the maximum weight and quality will be obtained with eight leaves; that the labor of suckering will be lessened; that the number of leaves to be stripped from the stalk will be reduced one-fifth, and that the high quality and the increase of weight will make the profit proportionately greater. The standard of ten leaves has been generally adopted for the first topping. As the season advances, this number is reduced with each succeeding topping in the same field. Usually, when the plants have not been destroyed by inscct enemies or drouth, and the cultivation has been regular and uniform, about one-half the plants come into top at the same time. The second topping takes place about a week after the first, at which time nearly every plant should be topped, unless there is a great inequality in the situation or in the fertility of the soil. In pinching out the bud, one should be very careful not to injure the tender top leaves. A very slight injury will develop into serious blemishes when the leaf has reached its fullest expansion. An inexperienced man should never be allowed to top tobacco. It is a task that requires the utmost care and the closest attention. Carelessness in topping may greatly impair the value of the crop, for if more leaves are left on one plant than on another, the plants will ripen unevenly and irregularly, which is always an injury. Every plant that is carried to the barn to be cured should, if possible, be of like maturity, in order to secure a uniform quality in the product. When the seed bud has been removed, the plant makes vigorous efforts to reproduce itself, and every bud at the axils of the leaves begins to produce subsidiary plants, each one of which, if left undisturbed, will blos som and mature seed. These subsidiary plants (Fig. 87) are called "suckers," and must be diligently removed, not only from the axils of the leaves, but from the base of the stalk, otherwise the crop leaves will be dwarfed and robbed of all substance and good qualities. Worming. Even before the topping of the plant, the Sphinx moths, or horn worms, begin to feed upon the plant, and until the frosts come they are always present in a greater or less force. See Chapter XI, on Pests of Tobacco. The suckering and worming are carried on at the same time. If the suckers are allowed to grow long, every one becomes a shelter and hiding place for the worms, which find their way back to the plant from the suckers after the latter have been pulled off and thrown on the ground. They thus continue their depredations until the planter goes over his crop again. They Cutting and Housing Tobacco.-From six to eight weeks, in the heavy-tobacco districts, usually elapse from the time of topping until a sufficient number of plants are ripe enough to make the first cutting. This usually occurs from the 1st to the 10th of September. The maturity of the plant is indicated by its general appearance. The leaves droop, the tails of the top leaves sometimes almost touching the ground. become heavy and thick, mottled with yellowish spots, crisp and tender, breaking easily, especially when the dew is on them. They have an oily, granulated appearauce, and their upper surfaces are thick with a gummy substance which is secreted most abundantly during cool nights with heavy dews. Cut when fully matured, the tobacco plant reaches its maximum in weight and in those qualities that commend it to the shippers. If the cutting be deferred too long, round, brown spots will begin to appear on the leaves, which are signals of decay and deterioration. It rarely occurs that all the plants in the field will ripen at once. Several conditions are required, for this to happen-a remarkable uniformity in the fertility of the soil; precisely similar surface exposures; the setting of all the plants of equal hardiness the same day, and the topping of all the plants at the same time, with an equal number of leaves on each. Newly cleared lands will ripen the plants from six to ten days earlier than old land, both originally of the FIG. 93. PACKING THE HANDS IN HOGSHEADS. same character. A southern exposure, a rocky soil, stimulating manure, an early suspension of the work of cultivation, will all hasten the period of maturity. As a general thing, the planter is fortunate if onehalf the plants in a field are ready for the knife at the first cutting. As the season advances and the danger from frosts begins, the field is cut clean, although there |