1(32 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF TOBACCO. 



weather be damp and Avarm, as there is danger of injuring the 

 plant. After remaining on the scaffold a few days it becomes yel- 

 low, or assumes the color of a leaf in autumn ; it must then be 

 carried to the barn or curing house, and placed away, keeping the 

 sticks far enough apart to secure a free circulation of air through 

 them. If the weatlier is wet, it is best to take the plonts to the 

 house at once, and let the yellowing process take place in the house 

 rather than risk the changes in the weather, as rain is always inju- 

 rious to the plant after it is cut, and especially so after it becomes 

 yellow. 



The curing process is one of the most important in the future 

 value of the crop, and too much care cannot be given it, a small 

 neglect lessening the value of the crop seriously. If the weather 

 is dry and the tobacco is not too much crowded in the house, the 

 action of the atmosphere, assisted by a small portion of fire, will 

 be sufficient to effect the object. If, however, the weather is warm 

 and damp, the atmosphere will not aid very materially in curing 

 the plant, and unless firing is resorted to, the plant is certain to 

 be more or less injured. It is always safer, after a house is filled 

 with green tobacco, to rely upon the action of the fire to a consid- 

 erable extent. This should be small and slow at first, and contin- 

 ued so until the tobacco is clear of the moisture engendered by the 

 fire, and then increased until the leaf is nearly cured. When this 

 is the case, the fires should be suffered to go out, and the tobacco 

 be suffered to come in case, or get soft again. The quality of the 

 article will be improved by permitting it to come in case once or 

 twice before it is thoroughly cured in stem and stalk. Dry and 

 sound wood is best for firing. If the object of the planter is to 

 make a piebald or fancy article, care should be taken never to per- 

 mit the leaf to get very soft during the curing process; and to 

 make a really fanc}^ article, the tobacco must be thoroughly yel- 

 lowed before, and cured entirely by fire. This particular descrip- 

 tion is, however, not more desirable or valuable to the consumer, 

 as the essential properties of the plant are frequently destroyed by 

 the action of the fire. As a general thing, it is better to cure the 

 weed by a natural process of air and the action of the atmosphere ; 

 and where the planter is provided with a sufficient quantity of 

 room to house the crop without crowding too close, the object can 

 be attained without the aid of much fire, and the wood and danger 

 of burning the crop saved, and iu some markets increase the value 

 of the crop. 



