180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



on until we get it all into the barn. Any stray leaves tliat 

 are worth picking up around the field are picked up by a boy, 

 wound with twine, and hung up on poles aj'ound the barn, to 

 cure as well as they may. They do not amount to much, 

 however. 



[The doctor then gave an elaborate description of his to- 

 bacco shed, the distinguishing feature of which consists in the 

 method of ventilation adopted. The shed is raised about a 

 foot from the ground, which, of course, gives a free circulation 

 of air underneath, and what is known as a monitor roof ex- 

 tends the whole length of the building.] 



Rev. Mr. Cottle, of Pomfret. There is a great deal of to- 

 bacco raised in this State, and a great deal consumed. The 

 question is how to have it consumed in such a way as to pro- 

 mote the moral, intellectual and physical development of the 

 race. In other words, how we can best teach little boys and 

 girls to use it so as to make better men and women of tliem. 



Dr. Riggs. I find that there is a draft in this shed which 

 carries off all the fog, and if there is a breath of air stirring 

 outside, the tobacco will be sure to get it. It keeps the tips 

 of the tobacco waving backward and forward, and every por- 

 tion of the shed is ventilated from bottom to top. Very 

 little side ventilation is necessary. Formerly the top of my 

 'tobacco would grow black, but I have had no difficulty in 

 that respect in this shed. In this way we get a continual cur- 

 rent of air. Not a breath can stir without taking up a cer- 

 tain quantity of this effete, dead air, from the tobacco, and 

 carrying it off, and when your tobacco is well cured, all 

 you have to do is to drop the boards on the sides of this mon- 

 itor roof. Our tobacco was more uniform in this building 

 this year than it ever was before. 



Many of our farmers build their tobacco-sheds with one 

 ventilator on top six or eight feet square ; some will have 

 two, one on one end and the other on the other ; but this is 

 by all means the best method.- The ventilation is so perfect 

 that you will hardly notice any effluvia or stench in the at- 

 mosphere, as is generally the case when curing tobacco in the 

 ordinary way. 



