THE CURING OF TOBACCO. 225 
boxes weighing several hundreds of pounds each. These boxes are 
then left to take care of themselves. They are generally packed in 
the cool weather of fall and remain undisturbed several months. 
When the warmer weather comes, in the spring, a fermentation is set 
up in the cases, which progresses without any attention from the 
owner; but after a number of months the boxes are opened to de- 
termine the success of the fermentation, and the crop is sold at a 
price depending upon the character of the product. 
The second method of fermentation, adopted chiefly in warmer 
climates, keeps the whole process under close observation and is, in 
this respect, undoubtedly superior. The leaves, after drying, are 
piled upon each other, not too tightly, and a great heap is made, 
sometimes three feet high, sometimes more. For the proper fer- 
mentation of this heap there should be a warm, moist atmosphere, 
such as is found in tropical and semi-tropical climates. Within a 
short time the temperature of these masses begins to rise, sometimes 
as high as ten degrees in a day. When the temperature reaches a 
point between 125 and 130 F., the piles are opened and the leaves 
are heaped up again in other similar piles, care being taken to put 
on the inside those leaves which were before on the outside. 
Another rise in temperature follows and again, after reaching i25F., 
the heaps are thrown down and remade. This is repeated from 
five to eight times, several days elapsing between the successive 
heapings. At the end the tobacco is in the proper condition for 
market. This second method is quicker and, in some respects, 
better than the first method. The fermentations do not always end 
here, however. The manufacturer commonly allows the tobacco 
to undergo a second fermentation, called "sweating," which brings 
the leaf into a better condition for use. 
The primary fermentation is clearly the essential process of 
tobacco-curing. During the fermentation some very essential 
changes in the tobacco take place. The chief of these changes are 
the following: A decrease .in nicotin, an increase in alkaline reaction, 
an increase in ammonia, the disappearance of sugar, an increase in 
the amount of nitrate, a loss of water, a change in the texture of 
the leaf, a change in color (the final color brown) and a change in 
