BiFrKRENT ]MkTHOUS OF CuRING TOBACCO. 



143 



In curing tobacco by this method, the chief aim of the grower is 

 to obtain a yellow colour, which, generally speaking, controls the 

 value of the leaf so cured. There are several conditions necessary for 

 the successful curing. The principal of these are: — (1) The right 

 type of soil, and (2) proper management of the curing. 



In addition to these, careful attention must also be given to the 

 kind and quality of manure or fertilizer applied to the land, and 



[I'holii Inj l\ Kork. 



Sun-curing Turl^isli Tobacco. 



harvesting the tobacco at the proper stage of ripeness; moreover, the 

 acreage of tobacco must be large enough to provide sufficient leaf of 

 more or less the same texture and ripeness for filling each harn. 



The most typical soils are light sandy soils and sandy loams with 

 subsoils containing small proportions of clay. Norite turf, which is 

 distinctly clayey, is an exception. This type of soil, although black 

 and clayey, also gives good colour under air-curing conditions. The 

 varieties found most suitable for flue-curing in the States are the 

 different strains of Orinocos such as Big Orinoco, Little Orinoco, 

 Gooch, and the Pryor group such as Yellow Pryor. In Rhodesia, 

 Goldfinder, South, and Hester give good results, while at the Expe- 

 riment Station, Rustenburg, Joiner, South, and Yellow Pryor have 

 proved very suitalde. 



There are two ways of harvesting tobacco for flue-curing. The 

 first system consists of splitting the stalk from the apex, cutting it 



