230 Practical Farming 



matra tobacco under cotton cloth covers, and though so 

 far the culture has not been profitable the growers still 

 have faith in making it so. But the culture of this leaf 

 has become so common and profitable in Florida that it is 

 probable that the Sumatra wrappers in this country will 

 be largely grown there. But many smokers still prefer the 

 Connecticut Seed Leaf and the Broad Leaf wrappers to 

 the Sumatra. One manufacturer told us that his brands 

 of cigars cannot be made with the Sumatra leaf. 



In Ohio a variety known as Zimmer Spanish has come 

 into use for mixing with Havana as a filler in the cheaper 

 grades of cigars to which it imparts a sweetness that is 

 favored by many smokers. 



The methods of harvesting and curing 

 ^^Cur^^ tobacco vary greatly in the different districts. 

 Tobacco I^ the bright tobacco of the South Atlantic 



coast section, and in the White Burley sec- 

 tion, tobacco is not cut off at the ground as is done in 

 Pennsylvania and Connecticut and the North generally, 

 but the leaves are pulled separately as they mature and 

 are then strung on short sticks for curing by heat in flued 

 bams. At the beginning of the harvest four or five of the 

 lower and riper leaves are pulled in the morning after the 

 dew is off. Some growers string them on the curing sticks 

 in the field, while others load in wagons and haul to the 

 curing barns where women and girls do the stringing with 

 cotton twine and needles, or by using a pecuHar turn of 

 the twine around each midrib. The bams are commonly 

 built of logs, and are much taller than broad. The sticks 

 on which the tobacco leaves are strung are arranged on 

 cross beams from the top of the house downward, closelv, 



