Curing of Turkish Tobacco. 409 



CURING OF TURKISH TOBACCO. 



By PiETEK Koch, B.Se.Agr., Manager, Elseiibiug Tobacco 

 Station, Mulders Vlei, Cape. 



Introduction. — Tobacco culture is a highly specialized subject, 

 the plant being very sensitive to conditions of soil and climate. Even 

 should these be favourable, much depends on the fertilizers used and 

 the treatment the crop receives in the field at the hands of the grower. 

 If all these requirements are fulfilled, then it is most essential, if a 

 first-class product is to be turned out, to harvest the leaves at the 

 proper stage of ripeness and to cure them under as ideal conditions 

 as possible. 



Luckily, climatic conditions in the Western Province during 

 summer, and the method of harvesting the leaves of turkish tobacco 

 singly as they ripen, make the proper curing of this class of tobacco 

 comparatively simple, and the results far more certain than is the 

 case with other tobaccos. In the areas where summer rainfall 

 prevails and the Virginian types are grown, the crops of a 

 whole district are often spoiled through continuous rains during 

 curing. If the tobacco does not actually rot in the shed, 

 the damp atmosphere darkens the leaves to such an extent as 

 to make what otherwise might have been a high-priced, yellow 

 tobacco unfit for cigarette manufacture, and it has consequently to be 

 sold at a much lower figure as pipe tobacco. Also flue-curing, 

 whereby the effects of unfavourable weather are to a large extent 

 counteracted, entails much expense in shed construction and fuel, 

 and requires a high degree of efficiency and skill to manipulate and 

 constant attention every hour, day and night, until the crop is cured. 



Tobacco growers in the Western Province do not always realize 

 what a great advantage they have over other growers in the Union 

 in the matter of weather conditions during curing. However, 

 unfavourable conditions do prevail sometimes, and it is to the benefit 

 of the grower to know why certain operations are conducted. In 

 any case, the intelligent farmer has greater control over the final 

 results of his labours should he be acquainted with the changes which 

 take place in the tobacco during the ripening and the curing of the 

 leaves. 



In order to be able to cure tobacco properly the leaves must be 

 harvested at a certain stage of ripeness. A second requirement is 

 that the conditions in the wilting room, Avhere the leaves have to 

 undergo the important stage of yellowing, should be controlled in 

 such a manner that certain desired chemical and physiological 

 changes can most readily take place. The subsequent drying in the 

 curing camp in the sun is, with the present system in vogue, to some 

 extent a matter of luck, but with our usual favourable summer 

 weather the drying tobacco generally turns out fairly well. 



