TOBACCO 



5824 



TOBACCO 



to the field. The ground, meantime, has been 

 thoroughly cultivated, enriched with fertilizer 

 and laid off into furrows, or rows, three or four 

 feet apart. In these furrows hills are made for 

 the young plants. Long-leaf varieties demand 

 proportionately more space than do smaller 



THE TOBACCO PLANT 



varieties, and the distances between hills vary 

 from fourteen inches to three feet. If trans- 

 planting is done by machinery, from three to 

 six acres a day can be worked. With hand la- 

 bor an industrious workman can set from one 

 to two acres in the same time. 



Frequent cultivating and the elimination of 

 weeds and of insects and their larvae are neces- 

 sary. Topping of the plants to prevent flower- 

 ing and to concentrate the strength in a few 

 leaves is practiced in the production of tobacco 

 raised for leaves and not for seeds. Topping 

 results in the formation of false leaves, or suck- 

 ers, and these must be pulled off as fast as they 

 appear. In several states the United States 

 Department of Agriculture has made experi- 

 ments in the cultivation of tobacco under can- 

 vas covers. This method causes the plants to 

 mature earlier and to bear finer and more deli- 

 cately-flavored leaves. 



Harvesting and Curing. Tobacco leaves are 

 ready for harvesting when the surface becomes 

 a mottled yellow and green. The methods of 

 cutting and curing vary for different kinds of 



tobacco. In some cases the entire plant is cut 

 down when the middle leaves are ripe, and in 

 others the leaves are removed separately as 

 each one matures. In harvesting white burley, 

 which is used extensively for making plug and 

 fine-cut chewing tobacco, the entire stalk is cut 

 and then split a little more than half the 

 length. The stalks are then wilted and placed 

 astride a stick, at the rate of seven plants to 

 a stick. After being left for a time in the 

 open air the plants are taken to ventilated 

 sheds, where the leaves are cured by exposure 

 to air. Yellow-tobacco leaves are stripped from 

 the plants as they ripen, and are cured in 

 houses equipped with flues that convey arti- 

 ficial heat. Heavy tobaccos raised in America 

 for export to Europe are cured by the heat of 

 open log fires, as the smoke imparts a creosotic 

 flavor that is very popular with European cus- 

 tomers. 



Perique, which is one of the choicest grades 

 of smoking tobacco, and is prized because of its 

 rich flavor, is cured by subjection of the leaves 

 to great pressure. Seed leaf, a variety in ex- 

 tensive use for cigar manufacture, is air-cured 

 like white burley, in ventilated houses. A 

 high-grade chewing tobacco with a sweet, deli- 

 cate flavor, which is grown to a limited extent 

 in Spottsylvania County, Virginia, is cured in 

 the sun. This method is too expensive to be 



CENTERS OF PRODUCTION 

 The chief tobacco fields are indicated by the 

 groups of dots on the map. 



adopted generally. After tobacco is cured it 

 is softened in moist air, packed in boxes and 

 taken to the warehouse, where it must undergo 

 a "sweating," or fermenting, process before it 

 is ready for the market. This is for the purpose 

 of reducing the proportion of nicotine and de- 

 veloping the aroma. 



