THE SEASON IN OTHER PLACES. 451 



done in as little time as is necessary to cut the stalk off in 

 the ordinary way. Split it to within about three or four 

 inches of the ground, and cut it off in the ordinary way with 

 the same knife. Cut it off and hang it over one of your 

 sticks that you have driven slanting into the ground near 

 you. Cut and put six stalks on the stick, and then lay it 

 down on the ground to wilt, taking the usual care to prevent 

 sun-burn. When it is sufficiently wilted, haul to the shed 

 and hang it up." 



In the East Indian Archipelago, " as soon as the leaves are 

 fully grown they are plucked off, and the petiole and a mid- 

 rib are cut away. Each leaf is then cut transversely into 

 strips about a sixteenth of an inch wide, and these are dried 

 in the sun until a mass of them looks like a bunch of oakum." 



In Persia, when the plants are ripe they are cut off close 

 to the root, and again stuck firmly in the ground. By 

 exposure to the night dews the leaves change from green to 

 yellow. "When of the proper tint, they are gathered in the 

 early morning while wet with dew, and heaped up in a shed, 

 the sides of which are closed in with light thorny bushes, so 

 as to be freely exposed to the wind. 



In Japan, the leaves are gathered in the height of summer. 

 When the flowers are of a light tint, two or three of the leaves 

 nearest the root are gathered. These are called first leaves, but 

 produce tobacco of second quality. After the lapse of a fort- 

 night, the leaves are gathered by twos, and from these the 

 best tobaccos are produced. Any remaining leaves are after- 

 wards broken off along with the stem and dried. These 

 form the lowest quality of tobacco. After gathering, the 

 leaves are arranged in regular layers and covered with straw 

 matting, which is removed in a couple of days. The leaves 

 are now of a light yellow color. They are then fastened by 

 the stem in twos and threes to a rope slung in a smoke 

 room, and after being so left for fourteen or fifteen days, they 

 are dried for two or three days in the sun, after which they 

 are exposed for a couple of nights in order that they may be 

 moistened with dew. They are then smoothed out and 

 arranged in layers, the stems being fastened together, pressed 

 down with boards, and packed away in a dark room. 



