nia.]

[Illustration: Worming tobacco.]

The "horn worm" feeds upon the finest and largest leaves. They are not
found as often on the top leaves--especially those growing on the very
highest part of the stalk, as they prefer the ripe leaves and those
lower on the plant. The horn worm, if large, eats the leaves in the
finest part of them, frequently destroying half of a leaf. They leave
large holes which renders the leaf worthless for a cigar wrapper,
leaving it fit only for fillers or seconds. In Cuba the tobacco plant
is assailed by three different kinds of insects--one attacks the foot
of the leaves; a second the under side; a third devours the heart of
the plant. In Colombia the following are the great enemies of the
tobacco plant: A grub, named _canne_, which devours the young buds;
the _rosca-worm_, which commits its depredations in the night only,
burrowing in the ground during the day; the grub of a butterfly,
called by the Creoles _palometa_; a species of scarabaeus called
_arader_, which feeds on the root of the plant; and a species of
caterpillar[77] which is called in the country the _horned-worm_, so
voracious as to require one night only to devour an entire leaf of
tobacco. At the South, and especially in Virginia, the housewife's
flock of turkeys are allowed to range in the tobacco fields and devour
many of these pests.

[Footnote 77: Wallace says of worming tobacco in Brazil:
"The plants are much attacked by the caterpillar of a
sphinx moth, which grows to a large size, and would
completely devour the crop unless carefully picked off.
Old men, and women, and children are therefore
constantly employed going over a part of the field every
day, and carefully examining the plants leaf by leaf
till the insects are completely exterminated."]

Almost as soon as the plants have been transplanted, the work of

CULTIVATING

should commence. As the tobacco plant grows and ripens in a few weeks
from the time it is transplanted in the field, it is of the utmost
importance that the plants get "a good start" as soon as possible. In
a favorable season, and with ordinary culture, the plants will do to
harvest or "cut" in from eight to ten weeks after transplanting. From
the rapidity of its growth it will readily be seen that the plant
should come forward at once, if large, fine leaves are desired. In a