63 



day should be selected for taking it down. Lay it in 

 piles with the tops overlapping^ each other, and the butts 

 outwards, and cover with cloths, boards, or straw, to 

 keep it from drying', then remove the leaves from the 

 stocks by breaking them at the junction thereof, sepa- 

 rating them into three sorts, viz. : The best and most 

 perfect leaves for wrappers, the broken and smaller ones 

 for seconds, and the inferior and green for thirds, doing 

 each kind into hands of twenty to twenty-five leaves, 

 by putting the butts of the leaves together and winding 

 a leaf around, passing the end under a portion of the 

 hand, and again pressing them together. It should be 

 remembered that after the tobacco is cured on the poles 

 that it may hang indefinitely without injury, in fact, it in- 

 creases in quality with age, therefore no hurry need be 

 used in tying in and sweating (unless the grower wants 

 to realize on his crop) until the following spring." 



By the same writer last quoted, we take the following 

 on the further preparation of the leaves for market, from 

 the Prairie Farmer^ for January 31, 1863. He says : 



*' The leaves having been made into hands, as directed, 

 proceed to lay them in a frame, by placing them tips 

 on tips, with the round ends outward. The top should 

 he covered with boards or cloths to preserve the mois- 

 ture ; at the end of two days examine, and it heating 

 or showing inclination to mould, place into another 

 frame. If the sweating goes on well, it will be per- 

 fected in from four to six days. It is then ready to 

 pack in cases and take to market. Cases should be of 

 inch lumber, three feet and eight inches by two feet 

 six inches square. Four hundred pounds should be put 

 in a case, place them in, the butts against the box, and 

 the tips overlapping each other, press with a screw or 

 lever, and fasten down the top. With old tobacco 

 growers, no difficulty is experienced, but beginners 

 should watch each process carefully ; therefore, before 

 packing finally, one box should be packed and examined 

 after a lime, and if it does not mould, the whole should 



