The Danbury Reporter.
VOLUMK XXXIII
HOW TO GROW TOBACCO.
\I>DRESS DELIYEREI) BY MR. W. A. PETREE BEFORI
THE COl .VTY FARMERS' CONVENTION
AT DANBURY JULY 27, 11)05.
Gentlemen, and fellow farmers
uf Stokes, lam glad to see you
here this evening, for your pros- ■
auce tells me that you are not
satisfied with your present amount
of knowledge about your business
as farmers. Your presence tells
me that you are imbued with, and
being actuated by a spirit of pro
gress. If tells me that you feel
an interest ill your business, and
that you realize that you do not
know all thatv may be learned
about it, but tiiu> you are seeking
to learn more. And II9W while
I realize that there may be among
you many better farmers, many
better tobacco growers than I am,
rtu.l while it is witli some degree
of em harassment I undeitike to
editress you, yet as I am requested
to contribute my little mite of ex
perience in tobacco culture, I wish
to say that, if I can offer any sug
gestions that, will add to your in
terest and profit in this business,
1 feel that the effort will !)ot have
been made in vain.
Now there is a right way, ami
perhaps many wrong ways to do
almost anything; and it seems to
uu> that if we would work to tho
best advantage or oope with the
requirements of our business as
farmers, we should think more.
Wo must think more. We, per
haps more than any other people,
live in clone touch uith nature,
and have go «f oppoituniiiee to
acquaint ourselves with her laws
as they relate to animal autl vege
table life ; anil we should study,
and acquaint ourselves as far as
cau with the nature of every
plant or crop we cultivate, in order
that we may i,:)o»' how to supply
their needs aud get the best re
sults for our labor.
Now, as I am no theorist, I wish
to talk about what seems to me to
he tho more important features of
tobacco culture, from a plain
practical tfaudpoint, the stand
point of Miry own "experience and
obseivation. So we wiii now be
gin with the tobacco seed, not at
the plantbed, nor with such seed
ms wo can get from a thoughtless,
care'-ess farmer, but we must have
gootl »et*«t; nml 1 know of no better
way for the intelligent, thoughtful
farmer to get them than to grow
them himself. So now us
think just a little about growing
good tobacco seed. Now, 1 don't
know how all you farmers grow
your tobacco seed, I don't know
how you select your seed plants;
neither do 1 know how you treat
your seed plants after you select
them. But I know what has been
my observation along this line, I
haw been used to seeingthe farm
ers select gooil thrifty looking
plants for their seed. And they
turn out from one to sometimes as
many as a half dozen seed plants
all in one little spot of laud. Then
they prime off tho bottom leaves
just as if they were going to top
the plants, then they break off tho
small leaves from around the stalk
at the top so as to leave each plant
with just about the same number
of leaves they leave on a topped
plant. Then tuey keep the worms
off and care for the plants till they
ripen their seed as best they can.
Now, I practiced this method for
several years, giving the matter
little thought as to whether it was
right or wrong. In fact, I acted
just as if I thought that just so I
grew my tobacco seed that was all
that was noceßsary. But my to
bacco kept deteriorating, it would
spock, frog-eye and rut on the field;
anil it kept getting worse from
year to year. So 1 began to study i
as to what was the cause, and I
while 1 thought the seasons had i
something to do with it, I was'
satisfied that the principal or
primary entice lay in the fact, that
I had weakened tho nature of my
tobacco and its disease resisting
powers by crippling up my seed '
plants from year to year by break- ■
ing off so many of their leaves. ;
Just about that time I heard other
intelligent fawners talking about j
•he same thing, so 1 quit breaking !
any leave* ofi" m; seed plants, and ,
after that the tobaceo stopped rut |
ting so badly, ami began -to Im
prove in many other ways. Now, |
it is the nature of all plants to re i
produce themselves. They natur
ally exert!heir forces to develop I
and perfect their seedj (hp to
bacco plant needs all tho leaves j
nature gives it to enable it by the j
help of the sunshine to elaborate |
!)r prepare its gums and juieces for ;
a proper development of seed.
Not one single particle of the cur- |
bon that enters into the sugary ■
and starchy combinations neces
sary to the development of perfect
g cpn the plant take up through
its roots, but it must all bo taken
in from the atmosphere, in tho
form or state of carbonic acid gas;
and the plant has no way of tak
ing in tnia gas only through its
leaves. The leaves are its lmi}s
through which it takes in all tho
atmospheric gases necessary to
develop its seed. And no more :
ean there be a perfectly healthy,
and natural tobacco plant- -one that
will produce perfect seed without
all its leaves than there can be a
perfectly healthy uiqn without all
of his lungs. If men and women
were crippled up from generation
to generation, by clipping off a lit
tle of their lungs and diminishing
their breathing power, in time the
race would become so weak and
sickly it would die off. A IK ! nu "
alogical reasoning would teach us
that tho same is more or less true
of the tobacco plant. So, brother
farmer, as long as wo continue to
cripple up the seed plants from
which our tobacco crops grow, we
cannot expect the tobacco to re
main sound and healthy ami have
the power to resist tho diseases
unfavorable seasons bring about.
Now, about the selection of
seed plants, I think each farmer
should have an ideal, that is, he
should form a mental picture of
just what kind of type or plant of j
tobacco he wants. His mental
picture should be one of the to
baoco plant including all its desir
able features or characteristics, j
And with this picture in iiis mind
he should go into his tobacco tield ;
anil select seed plants as near like
his picture as he can find. I like !
to select plants with good medium
sized leaves of good shape aud !
length, and with relatively small j
stems and fibers, anil the leaves not
too close together otr tho stalks.
I like to select plants of quick
growth, but not plants that button i
or head out too low down. Neith
er do I like plants that grow up
too high before they button or
head out, as 1 think this is an
indication of lateness.
Now as uniformity of growth
and character are things we want
in the tobacco crop, and as every
plant Has its own individual charac
teristics, and as it is the nature
of plants to take on like features
STOKES AND CAROLINA.
DANBURY, N.C., THURSDAY, AUtiUST 24, l!K).l
or characteristics of tho parent
plants, I do not think it is a good
plan to mix tobacco seed off dif
i foront seoil plants. t >no good soed
: plant will produce seed enough to
j plant many thousand hills of to
bacco; but of course if tho farmer
wants inorc seed than he can get
tftff of one plant, 110 can save seed
1 from other plants, but he should
i keep them separate, sow them in
> separate beds, plant the plants in
separate portions of the tield and
cut and cure the tobacco iu separ
ate curings.
Another thing, I do not think it
jis a good p'an to turn out more
I than one seed plant at any one
] place in the field. Ido not know
just how if is, but 1 think that 011
j account of tho winds and insects,
the plants are likely to cross and
, mix when they stnnd close togeth
-1 er. jf tlioy |o U|is in this way, it
would be an Impossibility to ever
] get any set or fixed typo of tobac-
Ico as long as we continue to mix
\ up our seed and seed plants.
The next thing I wish to speak
of is the preparation of the plant
| land. 1 am aware that the farm
| ers have been in the practice of
burning their plant beds, and they
i have wasted thousands and thou
' sands of dollars worth of wood,
i and done thousands of dollars
j worth of hard labor to prepare and
burn the wood, when it all might
have been saved had they just
thought a little aud practiced a
'different method Burning does
not add one single particle of
plant footl to the soil,' only that
which is in the ashes, and I have
seen farmers even push tho ushes
off the land before they worked it
ttp ready to sow their seed. If we
wan* our plant beds to have ashes,
we can supply them in other ways
than by wasting our wood to burn
the land. Then, I am sure that
the burning of tho land, especially
if it is burned hard, drives off large
quantities if not all the nitrogen
that is in the soil; and this neces
sitates our having to manure more
( heavily in order to get a good
Top of plants. All the good that
1 can see the burning does, is to
kill the weed and grass seed in
tho land, but this can be done
much more cheaply than by burn
ing the land, So, if you will par
don me for referring to my own
methods, will tell you how I have
been making tobacco plants for
the last few years. But first, I
will have to tell you how I make
turnips, because the preparation
of my tobacco plant land begins
1 \tith, and is included in tho pre
paration of tho land for my turn
ips. Just as soon as I can after
harvest, I go into my stubble field
and select a place, neither too wet
! nor dry for tobacco plants. I al
' ways select a place that lies to the
south or south east, and having
selected the place I give it a good
I coat of manure and turn it under
just about as deep as I can with a
j one-horse turning plow. Then I
let it lie eight or ten days, till the
weed and gras9 seed in the mnii
nre and land begin to sprout and
| come up, then, 1 take a long bull
j tongue plow and plough the land
j thoroughly, crossing the
tirst ploughing with the second.
This kills all the young weeds and
1 grass anil thoroughly mixes the
manure with the soil. Then I lot
it lie a few days longer or till
more weeds and grass begin to
come up, then I cultivate the sur
face of the land thoroughly. This
kills all the weeds and grass, mel
lows up the land, breaks up the
capillaries of tho surface of the
land aud shuts off the evaporation
of moisture from the soil and
holds it in store for the turnigs. I
keep up this surface culture as
often as it is nectary to keep
the gvi?H killed, and t> land stirr
ed on top to conserve the mois
ture in tho soil till the time comes
to sow the turnip seed. Then J
get everything in readiness and
watch out for a rain, and when I
see the rain coming, I mix my
turnip sued with a liberal quantity
bf some good fertilizer rich in pot
ash, and sow them down on the
land and rake or harrow then in
lightly; and when the rain comes
the seed sprout and come right on
up and the young plants get root
ed iu the soil before it dries out.
After the rain, and before the seed
c«uie up I always give the land u
dressing of tobacco stalks. 1 al
ways save the stalks from one or
two curings of tobacco just to go
on my turnip patch. Now, gontle T
men, ] have been practicing this
method about sixteen years, and
have never failed in a single ins
tance to make the very finest kind
of turnips, I often make them to
weigh 8 and 10 pounds. And one
time aud tho only time I over sent
any of them to a fair they took ott
a premium. As dry as it was foi
turnips last fall, I pulled about f>o
bushels off a spot, not over U."> or
40 feet s.jitare. But lam digress
iug, so I will get back to the to
bacco plantbed. Having sprouted
und destroyed the weed and grass
seed in the land while preparing it
for turnips, (ho land is in tine con
dition for tobacco plants so far as
the grass is concerned; and when
the time comes to sow the tobaceo
see ,> Vo and pull tho turnips ol\
thcinrtfi whore I want to sow the
seed, if tlioy havo not already
been pulled off, I rake off tho old
tobacco stalks, if they are not rot
ten enough to work into tho soil,
I then give the land another good
coat of manure, free from grass
seed, throw some fertilizer over
it and work it all well into the
land, making the bed perfectly
mellow aud tine. Then I smooth
it off with a rake, mix my tobacco
seed with a little fertilizer and
sow them down on the bed, put
ting 011 about half of the seed
while going over tho tirst time;
then I turn and go across the
other way and sow tho other half
of the seed. This distributes the
seed evenly over the bed and in
sures a regular stand of plan*.
After the seed are sown 1 rake
them in lightly, aud firm the soil
by tramping; a little later 011 I
put on tho canvass, atul tho bed is
done, and all without burning a
singlo stick of wood. Now 1 have
practiced this method a few years,
and I have not failed in a single
case to make the very best kind of
tobacco plants. The advantages
of the plan are these. 111 the first
place, it gives you a fine crop of
turnips, something every farmer
likes to havo. In the next place,
it give you a tine lot of tobacco
plants, just what you are working
for. Then, it saves your wood and
all the hard labor of preparing and
burning it, and then from year to
year you are getting up or making
little spots of land in your fields
rich, and these do good to other
crops for years to come. Where
as, if you haul your manure out
and throw it on plant beds in the
forest, as is usually the case, when
the beds are burned the manure
does you no good only for tho one
year. [Just here, some one asked
the speaker if he had any parti
cular time to sow the tobacco seed,
and whether or not he was in any
way governed in the work by the
phases of the moon]. And continu
ing, he said : I prefer to sow
the seed about tho second week in
February, but sometimes I sow
A SUCCESSFUL MEETING
Rev. J. T. Rattledge Writes About
the Elkin Sunday School Con
vention.
I had the pleasure of attending
the District Sunday School Con
vention at Rlkin, in part. ft. was
indeed inspiring to be in this b idy.
It was composed of Baptists,
Methodists, I' resbyte riall s,
Friends, etc., and all working
harmoniously together. As the
saying goes with us, "they all
seemed like Mfll lodists."
I will not attempt here to give]
a full report of the Convention,]
but wish otdy to give you some-|
thing of its spirit.
Mr. N. 15. Broughton, of Ral- J
eigh. who has for a longtime been]
officially connected with the work,
was present with his genial face |
and inspiring talks, which added
much to the Convention.  >thor J
prominent speakers whose pres
ence and speeches contributed;
greatly to its success, were Profs.
G. H. Crowell, of High Point; Z.
H. Dixon, of Yadkinville; J. H. j
Allen, of Dobson; George, of
Rowan, and Mr. J. i 11 y Carter, of
Dobson.
The greatest theme* of this Con
vention were, Sunday School and
Temperance. Many inspiring and
helpful things were said, but to
this writer the most hdpoful fea
ture of all was the fact thirf we of
the different faiths were one iu
this Convention, Tu these Con
ventions there are apparent the
eertU of Leve ***ct that
arc drav.ing inL. •Mnesn fhesrvwt
heart of the Sunday School
Well, the Convention was a
succees in every respect, and so
will be ours at Danbury, August
2(')th. Our programs are out
end you can soe what a treat
we have for you.
Yours.
J. T. RATI,EDGE
SHARP INSTITUTE.
Intelligence, N. Aug. 27.
On August 29th there will be a
General Educational Rally and
Farmers' Picnic at Sharp In
stitute. The Programme will be
as follows : 9;iJO A, M. music,
followed with prayer; '.i:l.j, in
troductory and address of welcome
by Prof. J. M . Sharp. 10 A. M,
address by Prof. Albert H. King,
10;4o A. M. address by Prof.Clias.
C. Barnhartlt. 12 o'clock general
picnic luncheon 2P. M. address
to farmers, li P. M. general con
ference of representatives of the
North Carolina Farmers' Protec
tive Association.
The entire public i* invited.
This will mark the opening of
the fall term of Sharp Institute.
All who are close enough will
pleaso bring a basket.
The exercises will be instruct
ive as well as enjoyable.
Yours very truly,
PftOF. J. M. SHARP.
PECULIAR I.)ISAITERANCE.
J. I). Runyan, of Bntlervillc,
0., laid tho peculiar disappear
ance of his painful symptioms, of
indigestion and biliousness, to
Dr. King's Life Pills. He
says: "They are a perfect reme
dy, for dizziness, sour stomach,
headache, constipation, etc. "
Guaranteed at all drug stores,
price 2oc.
later, and sometimes earlier than
this. We have to be governed
more or less by weather conditions
and state of the ground. I pay no
attention to the moon, and think it
would be better for us to study
well the needs of our crops, and
plant them nearer homo than to
go away off to plant them in the
moon.
[To he continued next week,]
i r euLUCtiov
• } %
NUMBER 30
SUNDAY SCHOOL DISCUSSION.
0. L. Pulliam Answers F. G. South
em.
(.•ermanton Route I. Aug. 14.
i Mr. Editor :
Allow me space in this issue to
answer Mr. F. (1. Southern's ques
tion of Aug. 10th. I will just suy
l though th;il I think it would be
j better i'or Mr. Southern to call
; another secretary, as he and his
; present one can't got out a letter
j that anyone can get any sense out
of, or it seems s > from those they
have written.
Now as to the question he asked
mo in the issue of Aug. 10th, 1
will just ask Mr. Southern to step
i bac-k und read the first letter he
) -vruto. You remember you said
' those words; "'I wish that they
would admonish* their pupils to
conduct themselves better than
some oi' them do when they go to
preaching. And then you spoke
of the friend >f Mr. Thus. Willis
and Mr. liillery Burton, and left
the impression that he was a Sun
day School scholar. And to make
a long story short, yoW had just as
well said this man was taught this
misbehavior that you spoke of in
; Sunday School.
Now as to me as a Sunday
! School teacher, I am one. As to
;me teaching crime in Sunday
j School, I deny the charge. Al
; though I'm not astonished at you
saying anything about me or any
one, for 1 have heard you say that
, you had conw to the conclusion
that }•» taui wo cwalidenee ia neu*
of »e*fftob*r* nor cran in
' yourself.
Now. readers, what sort of a shape
,lis he in? What can you think of
such a man* And here he comet
again with the words friend and
teach. 1 wish ho could find out
what they mean. I guess that is
what he wants. Is it Mr. South
ern? )r what do you menu? You
asked me privately what these
words meant and I told you. And
then you asked Mr Redding in
your reply to him. And now say
' something again in your last letter
' 1 wish yon would explain your
" self. Now I am centainly glad
! that F. i Southern was in D W.
• Hall's ami B. P. Pulliain's Sun
day School one Sunday and don't
you sec the only thing he makes
mention of was the reading of the
■lth cliapt. of Matthew, by 1) \V.
; Hall and B. K Pulliam. Now.
' Mr. Southern, did these two men
read this cliapt. by themselves?
Was there no one else that could
read. Why didn't you help them,
you say the reading was alright,
and be hands off of that stuff that
was all wrong. Yon did not say
what that was, and now will you
1 please state in your next letter
what that was that was so terrible
that happened after the cliapt. was,
read.
Now about that investigation 1
wanted you to let's make. You
failed to mention it. but you did
say this, that you think there is
• seventy-live per cent, of the rising
, generation risking their selves in
- the hands of Sunday School teach
! er for their salvation.
' Now. Mr. Southern, 1 want you
• iu your next letter to give the
• name of just one person who has
• told you this. Just one, not 7.~>
per cent, of the rising generation.
, 1 am with Sunday School people
every Sunday and 1 have never
" hoard one say anything of tlur
i kind.
I I will agree with you that there
i are To per cent, of the rising gen
> eration who are attending Sunday
t School.
' And now again, 1 ask you let's
make tljis investigation that I
> spoke of in my first letter and see
1 what par cent, of the criminals
I came from Sunday School.
«>. L. PULLIAM.