REPORT OF STATE HORTICULTURIST. yj 



grass land where they are considered a vakiable source of 

 plant food. Later on, Air. Smith expects to adopt similar 

 methods. 



The curing of tobacco is the important part of the season's 

 work. It is an easy matter to produce the crop, but the curing 

 of the leaves to make a commercial commodity is an art by 

 itself and in this the ordinary farmer would need advice and 

 perhaps systematic training before he could become successful. 



The leaves are gathered in large baskets in the field and 

 transported to the large drying houses. These houses are con- 

 structed like large barns with especial attention given to the 

 system of ventilation. A large ventilator runs the entire 

 length of the building at the peak of the roof and about half 

 of the entire sides are so arranged that boards may be tipped 

 at an angle admitting air from all directions. The ventilator 

 on the roof is important as without it moisture is apt to collect 

 on the tobacco in the upper part of the building, causing what 

 IS known as pole sweat, which means large loss in the drying. 



As the leaves arrive from the field in the baskets, women and 

 girls sew them in series of 36 to 40. The string which they use 

 is a special waxed cord, which they pass through the mid-rib of 

 the leaf close to the base. Ordinary cord will rot and break. 

 Having strung the allotted 40 leaves, they quickly fasten the 

 string to either end of a lath and spread the leaves in such a 

 way that no one touches its neighbor. These women when 

 expert will sometimes string 250 laths in a day. 



The laths are then taken by men to the barns and hung on 

 poles so arranged that a lath will just reach from one to the 

 other. The roof of the building is filled first, the men working 

 toward the ground, leaving the space above filled with these 

 great leaves eight or nine inches wdde and often more than three 

 feet long. Each leaf hangs free from all others. The barns 

 are filled rapidly, about 20 to 30 making up the crew on the 

 farm when picking begins. 



The ideal weather for drying tobacco is alternating wet and 

 dry days, but if wet weather exists for several days charcoal 

 fires are started in all of the buildings to dry out the leaves. If 

 allowed to remain damp, the leaves will become covered with 

 a slime and in a very short time will rot and drop from the 

 strings. 



