326 CURING AND SORTING. 



might suppose the buildings on fire, but not a blaze is within, 

 the object here, as in bacon -curing, being smoke, nvifire. 



" For this the old field-pine is eschewed, and the planter 

 draws on his stock of oak and hickory-trees. Many use sas- 

 safras and sweet gum in preference to all other woods for this 

 purpose, under the impression that they improve the flavor 

 of the tobacco-leaf. W hen the leaves, fully cured, have taken 

 the rich brown hue of the tobacco of commerce, so unlike the 

 deep green of the growing plant that a person familiar with 

 the one would never recognize the other as the same plant, 

 the planter must fold his hands and wait until they are in 

 condition for what is technically known as striking, i. e., 

 taking down from the rafters on which they are suspended. 

 Touch the tobacco when too dry and it crumbles, disturb it 

 when too high or damp, and its value for shipping is materi- 

 ally lessened, while if handled in too cold weather it becomes 

 harsh. But there comes a mild damp spell, and the watchful 

 planter seizing the right moment, since tobacco, like time and 

 tide, waits for no man, musters all the force he can command 

 for the work of stripping and stemming. This done, the 

 leaves are sorted and tied in bundles, several being held in 

 one hand, while around the stalk-end of the cluster is wrap- 

 ped another leaf, the loose end of which is tucked through 

 the center of the bundle. Great care is taken in this 

 operation not to break the leaf, and oil or lard is freely used 

 in the work. During this process the crop is divided into 

 the various grades of commerce from t long bright ' leaf to 

 i lugs' the lowest grade known to manufacturers. These last 

 are not packed into hogsheads, but are sent loose, and sold 

 without the trouble of prizing, in the nearest market-town. 



" Shades imperceptible to a novice, serve to determine the 

 value of the leaf. As it varies in color, texture, and length, 

 so fluctuates its market price, and at least half the battle lies 

 in the manner in which the crop has been handled in curing. 

 From the mountainous counties of South-western Virginia, 

 Franklin, Henry, and Patrick, comes all the rarest and the 

 most valuable tobacco, ' fancy wrappers ' but these crops are 

 smaller in proportion to those raised along the lowlands 

 of the rivers. This tobacco is much lighter in color, much 

 softer in texture, than the ordinary staple, and is frequently 

 as soft and fine as silk, Some years ago a bonnet made of 

 this tobacco was exhibited at the Border Agricultural Fair, 

 and had somewhat the appearance of brown silk. Only one 

 such plant have I ever seen grown in Southside, and that, a 



