HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO. 325 



Even when it becomes necessary to reorder tobacco, it 

 is not expedient to attempt to do so during the winter 

 months. And it is best not to hang it on the tier poles 

 until spring approaches, for during the winter the 

 snows are apt to beat in upon it. The winds injure it, 

 and if the weather becomes very moist, the heads fall to 

 one side and get into a crooked condition, not easily 

 straightened. When stripped too high, let 16 or 18 

 bundles be put on a stick, and "shingle" the sticks, 

 filled with tobacco, on an elevated platform, making 

 "coops" four or five feet high. The sticks give venti- 

 lation to the interior of the pile, and lessen the danger 

 to be apprehended from funking, even should warm 

 weather ensue. 



When the drying winds of spring come, the sticks 

 should be elevated to the tier poles so the tobacco may 

 be "dried out." The first warm rain that comes will 

 put it in suitable condition to take down again. A 

 careful watch should be kept that it does not get too 

 high in case. It should be "struck" down just before 

 it appears to be sufficiently high in case, for the growing 

 humidity continues a while, even after it is taken down. 

 Some of the best "ordering" seasons come without a 

 drop of rain. A warm, South wind surcharged with 

 moisture will do the work of ordering much more 

 uniformly than a rain. A " coming season " only should 

 be utilized, that is to say, when the tobacco goes from a 

 dry to a humid condition. A "going out season "is 

 when it has been too high in case and drying winds 

 bring it seemingly to the proper order or condition. If 

 taken down in a "going out season" it will be found 

 that the stems are too moist for the leaf, and there will 

 be no uniformity in the order. 



When the tobacco is rightly ordered after it is 

 stripped, it must be put in a bulk preparatory to prizing 

 and to preserve its right order or condition. A plat- 



