CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF TOBACCO. 89 



The sticks on whicli the plants are bung are small pieces of timber about 

 four feet long, and of sufficient strength to support tbem. These, when filled, 

 may be taken to the bam on a cart or wagon, or may be placed on a scaffold in 

 the field. If the weather is fair it is best to sun the crop, as it aids the curing 

 and adds to the strength and elasticity of the leaf after it is cured. Care should 

 be taken not to place the sticks too near each other if the weather is damp and 

 warm, as there is danger of injury. After remaining on the scafiold a few days 

 it assumes the color of a leaf in autumn ; it must then be taken to the barn or 

 curing house and placed away, keeping the sticks far enough apart to secure a 

 free circulation of air through them. If the weather is wet, it is best to take 

 the plants to the house at once and let the following process take place there 

 rather than risk it in the field, as rain is always injurious to tobacco after it is 

 cut, and especially so after it becomes yellow. 



The curing process is of the utmost importance to the future value of the 

 crop, and too much care cannot be given to it. If the weather is dry, and the 

 tobacco is not too much crowded in the house, the action of the atmosphere 

 should be assisted by furnaces instead of fires. Smoke from fire is very inju- 

 rious to fine manufacturing and cutting tobacco ; all lovers of the weed greatly 

 prefer its natural flavor. Many accidents happen yearly from the use of fire. 

 The difference in the sale of one good, ripe, furnace-cured crop will pay for aU 

 the outlay for furnaces and fixtures for twenty years. The heating is more 

 uniform, and less fuel is used. Where furnaces are not to be had, a small fire 

 will effect the object. If the weather is warm and damp the atmosphere wiU 

 not aid materially in curing the plant, and unless firing is resorted to it is cer- 

 tain to be more or less injured. It is always safer after a house is filled with 

 green tobacco to rely mostly on the action of fires for curing. These should be 

 small and slow at first, and continued so until the moisture engendered by the 

 fire is dried out, and then increased till the leaf is nearly cured. Then the fires 

 should be allowed to go out, and the tobacco to come in case, or get soft again. 

 The quality will be much improved by permitting it to come in case once or 

 twice before it is thoroughly cured in leaf and stalk. Dry sound wood is best 

 for the fires. 



If the planter desires to make a piebald or fancy article, care should be taken 

 never to permit the leaf to get very soft during the curing process. To make a 

 really flmcy article, the tobacco must be thoroughly yellowed first, and then be 

 cured entirely by fire. This particular description, however, is not more desi- 

 rable or valuable to consumers, as the essential properties of the plant are fre- 

 quently destroyed by the action of the fire. As a general thing, it is better to 

 cure the weed by the natural process of the action of the atmosphere, and where 

 the planter has room enough to house the crop without crowding too close, the 

 object can be attained Avithout much fire, saving wood and avoiding much danger. 



Having now reached the point when it is supposed the crop is secured and 

 cured, we proceed to give some directions in regard to its future management 

 and preparation for market, as many, after all their care and labor, lose their 

 profits to a great extent by want of knowledge in this respect, or by inexcusable 

 carelessness. 



vVhen the tobacco is thoroughly cured it is ready for the process of stripping, 

 or taking the leaves from the stalk. The plant first passes through the hands 

 of the most experienced laborer on the farm, who takes off the bad or injured 

 leaves and ties them neatly in bundles of eight or ten. The plants thus culled 

 lire given to others, who strip off the remaining leaves and tie them in bands of 

 six or eight, wrapping tightly with the tip of the leaf, used as a tie, so as to form 

 a head of one and a half inch in length. These bundles should be as uniform 

 as possible in size and color, as it adds to the beauty of the sample by which it 

 is to be sold. 



