316 



TOBACCO LEAF. 



good farmers, because by this method the plant is com- 

 pletely wilted before it is put in the barns ; the texture 

 is softened, the leaf yellows into a clear golden color, 

 and it cures much more easily and, with care, into good 

 colors, the leaves having the toughness and elasticity 

 required in shipping tobacco." Throughout the White 



FIG. 94. HEAVY TOBACCO READY TO BE SHIPPED. 



Burley districts scaffolding tobacco is an almost univer- 

 sal practice. 



If cool nights threaten frost, it sometimes becomes 

 necessary to cut great fields in a single day. When so 

 cut, it is heaped up before it wilts in what are known 

 as "frost piles. " The tobacco is heaped around a center. 

 To begin such a heap, two persons take each six or eight 

 plants in their hands, and standing opposite one another, 

 the ends of the tails are put nearly together on the 

 ground, with the heads of the plants leaning towards 

 each person. The heads are then brought together and 



