ickly, because damp ground, if prepared and rolled down
before drying, will 'set' like mortar, and remain damp on
the surface. Moisture and darkness are essential to the
germination of the seed, and these conditions can be secured
only by making the surface compact while damp. The
disintegration of the deeper lumps, and the decomposition of
fertilizers, will cause the surface to grow gradually
softer. The effect of plowing is to break the ground into
lumps, which lie upon each other, giving free admission to
the air between them. Harrowing makes finer the lumps near
the surface, and mixes the fertilizer deeper than a rake can
be used. The first raking is to pulverize and level, so that
rains will neither collect in ponds, nor run off, but
penetrate the soil evenly. The second raking is to mix the
fertilizer equally through the soil, to the depth of an inch
or less, and reduce the lumps to the size of peas, which is
as fine as a medium loam can be made without danger of a
tough crust. Too much working destroys the healthy grain of
the soil, and reduces it to a paste, which the roots of the
tobacco plants can penetrate but slowly.

[Illustration: Making the plant bed in Connecticut.]

"The bed should not be watered before nor after the plants
come up. The ground will be cold enough without any extra
evaporation, and if the place is suitable for tobacco
plants, and rightly fitted, the surface will be damp in the
morning, even in very dry weather. If the plants need
stimulating, sow on them a coat of Peruvian guano or
super-phosphate at the commencement of a rain, regulating
the quantity used by the amount of the water likely to fall.
Superphosphate makes dark-colored, thick-leaved, stocky
plants. Fish guano has about the same effect, but gives a
lighter color and thinner leaf. Peruvian guano is more
stimulating than either, and makes a light-colored, thin
leaf. Great caution is necessary in the use of these
powerful medicines to avoid an over-dose. A quantity that
would be safe in a heavy rain, would in a light rain kill
many or nearly all the plants.

"Old seed will sprout sooner than new. The seed should be
measured while dry, and the same spoon used every year, so
the effect of a given amount may be noted and the quantity