99 
should remain at or near one hundred and twenty degrees till the leaf is cured, 
which takes from four to eight hours, according to circumstances. When the leaf ap- 
pears cured, advance five degrees every hour up to one hundred and seventy degrees, 
and here remain till stalk and stem arecured. To run aboveone hundred and elzhty 
degrees is to endanger scorching the tobacco, and perhaps burning both barn and to- 
bacco. To recapitulate: 
1st. Steaming or yellowing process....-...--..---.----+ s----. 90 degrees for 36 hours. 
ie ke Fe ety ANT BCE La) gE iE PN pi anda 90 to 95 degrees for 1 to 2 hours. 
ESO ICOIOL. 222 tan noe a1 = been LS oaelenoe 95 to 100 rt 
Re COT io ae do eh a Oe anna meine 100 to 105 fe PD pad 
1 IESEAT C2 7H AVE pO Ua eae Sn OG a en SM gS 105 to 110 “ V'to3 2% 
BD SEN SRN COLOL sleeps ache A ninmice is Hae 31s = = Seay oe 110 to 115 ve rte 
Fixing DESC GLO cr oho clea ee Eo a heeate 115 to 120 « Pee 
3d. Curing DGROdi ese ach oblodnd bance ene ane 4 120 re 4to8 * 
4th. Curing SisloANG RAM Ene = obec Seas Samiseian cosa 120 to 170 “ 5 deg. per hour. 
and continue at one hundred and seventy degrees till stalk and stem are thoroughly 
cured. 
After curing, as soon as the tobacco is sufficiently soft to move, it should be run up. 
in the roof of the barn and crowded close. If warm, rainy, or damp seasons oceur 
soon after, dry out the tobacco with coal-fires, remembering to commence with small 
fires, as when curing, and gradually raise them till the tobacco is well dried. It is im- 
portant to attend strictly to this; for if your tobacco is cured yellow it will not 
remain so if, soon after curing, it is suffered to get in too “high order,” that is, absorb. 
too much moisture. When ready to strip, it should be assorted well, the several grades 
put together, making about three grades of leaf and two of lugs. Tie in neat bundles 
five or six leaves of “ leaf” and eight to ten of “ lugs.” Place twenty-five bundles ou the 
stick, and strike down as soon as stripped, unless in too high order. But it is not safe 
to permit tobacco thus struck down in winter-order to remain down longer than Ist of 
June. Watch it closely to preserve from injury. It is better tomarket in winter-order 
than to hang up in the barn to dry out and be re-ordered; for tobacco once bulked 
down and then hmng up in the barn again loses that sweet, mellow flavor so desirable, 
and never regains it when prized. 
' Pack neatly i in tierces (half hogsheads making the best and most economical) to- 
weigh from four hundred to five hundred pounds net. Takecare that the tobacco be 
not pressed so as to stick together or be bruised, and let each tierce be filled with 
tobacco uniform in color, length, and quality. 
’ “Tf at first you don’t succeed, 
Try, try again ; 
and act out that motto. You will have the satisfaction ere long of earning success and 
reaping the reward of your perseverance in doubling and trebling your income from 
this crop. 
The crop of Cuban tobacco grown in Gadsden County, Florida, is in- 
creasing in quantity. In 1870 the census reported 118,729 pounds. Last 
spring our reporter returned 200,000, and this spring 350,000 pounds 
for the crop of.1875, grown on 450 acres, an enlargement of 50 per cent. 
in the area planted. The price is not yet given; 200 boxes of 350 
pounds have been sent to New York, but returns of sales have not been 
received. The quality is the best of any crop since 1865, attributed to 
the fact that experienced planters have resumed its cultivation. Our 
correspondent claims that the test of forty years’ experience proves that 
deterioration is not produced in that soil and that climate, and ex- 
presses the opinion that Florida tobacco should supersede the Cuban 
in cigars. 
The effect of wet weather is also seen in Tennessee in reducing the 
quality of this product; and a further reason adduced is the inexpe- 
rience of a multitude of ‘beginners i in the business. Our Smith County 
correspondent remarks the increase of care in handling. Our corre- 
spondent in Robertson counsels the necessity of stamping or rolling, and 
*‘ brushing” heavily the seed-bed after seeding, to secare the retention 
of moisture during the period of March and April winds. He forwards 
the following statement of Mr. C. C. Bell, a suceessful grower of his 
county : 
To raise tobacco profitably the best lands should be selected. New lands, when well 
prepared and well cultivated, make a very good article; but old lands, well manured, 
