Different Methods of Curing Tobacco. 



139 



Sun-curing. 



This method of ciiiiug has been practised iu a few counties in 

 V^irg'iuia, and the type of tobacco produced is known as " Virginia 

 sun-cured." There is not a great deal of difference between sun- 

 curing and air-curing. In neither system is artificial heat used to 

 hasten the curing. In the Union all the Turkish tobacco is sun-cured, 

 although the system adopted here is slightly diff'eient from the one in 

 Virginia. 



Formerly the tobacco known as Virginia sun-cured was exposed 

 to the sun for several days immediately after harvesting, and w^hen 

 the leaf had readied the proper stage of curing, it was taken to a barn 

 more or less similar to the air-curing sheds used in the Burley section 

 of Kentucky, in which the curing was completed without the use of 

 artificial heat. When the tobacco was harvested, the plnnts were 



[Photo Inj J. (Itl P. (). 



Brick Shed. 



hung on sticks which were placed rather closely together on the scaf- 

 folds in the open for u period of from three to four days. As soon as 

 the proper stage of yellowing was reached, the sticks of tobacco were 

 moved farther apart for a day or so, then removed to the barn, where 

 curing was completed. The. barns were so ventilated that they could 

 be closed during wet weather, or at night-time, and opened during 

 dry weather or day-time. These scaffolds were usually built ch se to 

 the barns so that the tobacco could be easily moved into the shed 

 during rainy weather. Although this method is still practised by 

 some growers in the sun-cured belt, air-curing as described above is 

 the more common method at the present time. 



The method of sun-curing Turkish tobacco in the Western 

 Province is slightly different. In the first place, the leaves are primed 

 (picked separately) as they mature from the bottom upwards. The 



