196 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



enough to admit of horse cultivation. The sides as 

 well as the top are covered, thus giving protection from 

 winds and incidentally excluding insects. Notwith- 

 standing the expense involved, this method often proves 

 highly profitable, owing to the high prices obtained 

 for superior wrappers; but there is always danger, es- 

 pecially on light soils and in cloudy weather, that the 

 shading may be overdone, in which case the leaf will 

 be too thin and papery and will lack the elasticity 

 necessary for a good wrapper. Shade-grown tobacco 

 never develops the full aroma of that produced in 

 the open air. 



Harvesting. — When the leaves are fully grown, 

 one accustomed to tobacco will note a slight change 

 of color, which indicates the approach of maturity. 

 It requires experience and good judgment to know 

 just when to cut tobacco, as the quality of the crop 

 depends to a considerable degree upon the exact stage 

 of ripeness at which it is harvested. Just prior to 

 the change of color, before alluded to, the glandular 

 hairs which cover the surface of the leaves are very 

 active in secreting an essential oil that accumulates 

 in little globules at their tips. Later this dries to 

 a small resinous mass, so that tobacco which has be- 

 come too ripe is less aromatic, stiffer, and more brittle 

 upon curing. 



Three different methods of cutting tobacco are 

 employed. In some places the entire plant is cut at 

 the ground, carried in, and hung on poles or laths 

 in the curing barns. In Cuba the usual custom is to 

 cut the stem into short pieces in such a way that two 

 leaves are left on each piece; these are then hung on 



^v 



