MABKETING TOBACCO. 283 



dried out, and then re-ordered. They are rarely taken 

 down from the racks before the last of May or the first 

 of June, when no mistake can be made as to the amount 

 of moisture they contain. They should be in a dry con- 

 dition, barely pliable enough to prevent injury in 

 handling and prizing. When in this condition, they 

 are put in bulks and afterwards packed and prized in 

 casks, 1200 to 1300 pounds in each. Before packing, 

 the bundles are untied and the strips laid in regular 

 layers in the hogshead and pressure from screws brought 

 to bear upon them. 



The work in stemmeries goes on from November, 

 when the new tobacco begins to come into market, until 

 June, and consists of stemming and ordering the stock. 

 For the remainder of the season, the employees are kept 

 busy in putting the tobacco in bulk and prizing in casks 

 for the English market. 



The method pursued in recent years in ordering 

 strips is much more effectual and safe. The strips are 

 either hung up in a drying house or put in broad, flat 

 trays made of laths, and exposed to a drying heat of 

 1 60 for eight to ten hours. When the tobacco is thor- 

 oughly dry, the windows of the drying room are opened 

 and the tobacco cools off. The windows are then closed 

 and steam is turned into the room through pipes that 

 are perforated, which soon puts the tobacco into a con- 

 dition to be handled without breaking. It is then 

 taken down and " cooped," or shingled, on the floor, 

 but the sticks are not withdrawn. Enough of one grade 

 is put in a coop to fill a tierce, or hogshead. After 

 remaining in the coops a day or two, it is made ready 

 for packing in the cask by putting a few sticks at a 

 time filled with tobacco in a steam box, where it 

 remains for a minute or two, and is then packed 

 without delay, after untying the bundles and straighten- 

 ing the tobacco. 



