290 AGRICULTURAL BACTERIOLOGY. 



ripening. Whether future investigations will result in showing 

 that this fermentation must be taken wholly out of the realm 

 of bacteriology cannot yet be stated. But, at present, the cur- 

 ing of tobacco forms an integral part of bacteriology, even 

 though the future should demonstrate that it is the result of 

 chemical rather than bacterial fermentation. 



A brief description of the process of curing will aid us in 

 obtaining the clearest idea of the process and the dispute con- 

 cerning it. The tobacco leaves are first hung up in a drying 

 shed to undergo a partial drying. Sometimes they are strip- 

 ped from the stem before this drying, and sometimes the whole 

 stem is hung up with the leaves hanging downward. In this 

 state they become partially dry, their leaves wilting and as- 

 suming a somewhat brown color. This change is perhaps 

 akin to a sort of preliminary fermentation, but there is no 

 reason for believing that microorganisms have anything to do 

 with it. When it takes place normally it is purely a chemical 

 and physical process. It may happen that certain micro- 

 organisms, molds or bacteria, attack the leaves in this condi- 

 tion and produce certain diseases of the leaf, doing much dam- 

 age. This occurs chiefly if the leaves are too moist, and does 

 not occur if the temperature and moisture of the air are 

 normal. 



After the drying process is completed the leaves are ready 

 for the fermentation proper, the process upon which the value 

 of the product largely depends. The methods of bringing 

 about the fermentation vary considerably. Sometimes the 

 leaves are left hanging a long time, and are eventually packed 

 closely in boxes weighing several hundred pounds each. 

 These boxes are then left to take care of themselves. They 

 are commonly packed in cold weather and remain undisturbed 

 several months. When the warmer weather comes in the 

 spring, a fermentation is set up in the cases, which progresses 

 without any attention from the owner, and, after quite a num- 



