224 TOBACCO LEAF. 



follows that tobacco that has been too rapidly dried 

 loses, to a large extent, its ability to pass through the 

 subsequent sweating process, and the tobacco remains 

 permanently of a greenish color. If the tobacco is cured 

 in a current of air, care being taken not to drive the 

 moisture out too rapidly, a change takes place in the 

 interior of the leaf that changes the color from green to 

 brown. Finally, if tobacco is hung too closely, so as to 

 prevent the free access of air, the color still changes from 

 green to brown, but by a different process of fermentation, 

 the leaf loses its tenacity and elasticity, becomes subject 

 to pole burn and is more or less spoiled by rot. 



The time required for "curing down" tobacco 

 varies very greatly from year to year. Some seasons it 

 progresses very rapidly, so much so that a cure is com- 

 pleted in from six to eight weeks ; again, it is slower, 

 and three or four months are required. As a rule, quick 

 curing is the best. It can only be accomplished when 

 all the conditions are favorable. The seasons of 1891 

 and 1892 were remarkable for the rapid cures, and the 

 result of the cures in these years was unusually satis- 

 factory. Some years, however, the conditions are ab- 

 normally bad, such as was the case in 1872, when dense, 

 heavy fogs settled over the Connecticut valley during 

 the curing season, and the crop rotted on the poles, in 

 spite of all that could be done to save it. This has gone 

 down in the legends of the tobacco growers as the "bad 

 year of '72." It is thus seen that very much depends 

 upon the temperature and moisture of the outside 

 atmosphere, although these conditions can be controlled 

 to some extent, and often to a sufficient extent to effect 

 a cure. But even with the best of care and the most 

 favorable management, atmospheric conditions may pre- 

 vail that render any curing abortive. 



Goff has shown that in Wisconsin green seedleaf 

 tobacco loses about 71 per cent of its weight during the 



