52 . 



tlie last parts that icilt. Being large and ridged, these 

 require more sun to make them fall, and hence the ne- 

 cessity of placing the butts towards the sun when 

 heaping tobacco. Being thus placed, the stems continue 

 to be affected by the sun, while the plants are lying in 

 heaps. 



" The heaping of tobacco in some degree protects it 

 from being sun-hurned, but the uncovered leaves are, of 

 course, unprotected. Hence the necessity of hauling 

 the tobacco to the place of hanging it as soon as possi- 

 ble, after it has fallen sufficiently to admit of this being 

 done without bruising or breaking' off the leaves. Sleds 

 are the most convenient vehicles for transporting tobac- 

 co to the scaffold or house where it is to be hung, if near 

 at hand. These should have smooth plank on the bot- 

 tom, to prevent the leaves of the tobacco from being 

 torn or bruised. There should be no standards in the 

 sleds, and the tobacco should be laid on in two courses, 

 the tails lapped and butts out on each side. When un- 

 loaded, the butts should all lie towards the sun, unless 

 the hanging is performed in the shade of a house or 

 trees. These precautions are all for the purpose of pre- 

 venting the tobacco from being sun-burned. If the cut- 

 ting take place late in the season, or when the weather 

 is cool, they will not be necessary. 



" Planters who are largely' engaged in the culture of 

 tobacco, will be under the necessity of raising it at a 

 considerable distance from the place of housing it. In 

 that case sleds will not be convenient for transporting 

 it, and it would be a much better plan to have a wagon 

 coupled so as to hold a very long body, and sufficiently 

 high to hang the tobacco, after being put on sticks, 

 across the body. The sticks should be filled with the 

 appropriate number of plants, in the field where it 

 grew, and put at once into the wagon, pressing them as 

 close together as possible without bruising the leaves. 

 This will protect the plants from becoming sun-burned, 

 and when the wagon arrives at the place of housing it, 

 the tobacco may, at once, be transferred to the place 

 where it is to be cured. It would be most convenient 



