430 On the Culture of Tobacco. 



is the ctreme delicacy of the plant, it will not bear the heat 

 of the sua, unless it has so far set in the soil as to be able 

 to supply the loss from evaporation. This will not be for some 

 days, during which time the cover cannot be safely removed, 

 and wateiing to the extent of a pint a plant may be daily used. 

 Some of the respectable planters in the county of Wexford 

 have used pj s as a covering for the plants, of which some 

 thousands will be necessary. Others have used large oyster- 

 shells, leaves of cabbages or docks. I have tried all these 

 methods, and experience has satisfied me the mode I practised 

 has decided advantages. It protects the plant sufficiently 

 against the sun, and the water passes freely through it; 

 whereas, where pots or leaves are used, they must be removed 

 to admit water; and, in case of rain, the plants receive little 

 or no benefit from it. The operation of planting may be con- 

 tinued until the 20th of June ; but the earlier the better, after 

 the frosts have passed away. In America and France, I found 

 that four months were generally considered as necessary for 

 the maturation of the plants; and that time, in this climate, 

 cannot be allowed, unless they are put down early." (p. 160.) 



The Summer Management of Tobacco, by Mr. Brodigan, 

 consisted in loosening the soil about the plants, removing the 

 weeds, watering " for weeks together," taking off the decayed 

 leaves at bottom, topping when the plant has from 9 to 14 

 good leaves, and removing the side buds as they appear. 



The curing Process, by Mr. Brodigan, is as follows: — 

 "About the middle of August, the plants having attained 

 their full size, four or five of the bottom leaves of each plant 

 are taken off, suffered to lie on the ground for some time, and, 

 when they lose their brittleness, and can be safely handled, 

 they are carried home to a barn, and there put in a heap for 

 fermentation. The heap is turned, placing that in the centre 

 which was before in the bottom or exterior, and the tempera- 

 ture not allowed to exceed 100° or 110°- After remaining 

 two or three days in this heap, the leaves are spread out and 

 cooled, and strung by the midrib on lines of packthread ; they 

 are then hung up in an airy shady place, roofed in. When 

 the' leaves thus suspended have acquired an auburn colour, 

 they are fit for a second fermentation. A quantity of hay must 

 be placed between the tobacco and the ground, and the heap 

 may be made of an oblong or conic figure, the ends of the 

 stems being placed inwards. The heap being made, it is to 

 be surrounded with hay, blankets, or other close covering. 

 The period for this fermentation will depend upon the state of 

 the weather, and the dryness and size of the leaves. In four 

 or five days, I generally found the heat was sufficiently high 

 to penetrate and reduce the stems ; and when that is accom- 

 nlished, the heap is to be cooled by spreading it out to dry. 



