OF AGRICULTURE. 127 



Tobacco, for manufacturing purposes, should bo 

 exposed to the air on scaffolds ; and, if ripe and sun 

 cured, it will have that sweet aromatic flavor so 

 peculiar to good tobacco. After cutting, it should be 

 carried to the scaffolds and hung (without touching 

 the ground) about eight plants on a stick, and closed 

 on the poles for the purpose of sweating; by this 

 process the green color is expelled, and the tobacco 

 becomes yellow. It should then be removed to the 

 barn, and be fully cured by fire, either of charcoal 

 or flues. 



For "shipping purposes," the tobacco may be 

 hauled to the barn as soon as wilted, and the process 

 of curing commenced immediately, while the plant is 

 still green ; this gives the tobacco a dark, rich color, 

 so popular in the English and German markets. The 

 sticks may be placed about six inches apart in the 

 barn, and a little closer in the roof than in the body 

 of the barn. 



THE CHEMISTRY OP CURING. 



During the process of curing, tobacco undergoes 

 important chemical changes. Its peculiar properties 

 are, owing to the presence of several remarkable com- 

 pounds, of which one is called "nicotine," another 

 " nicotinanine," these are the most important. " Nico- 

 tine" is an alkaline substance, and has the form of an 

 oily liquid, when separated from the other compounds. 

 In its concentrated form, it is a deadly poison. The 

 quantity of nicotine varies in the different qualities 

 of tobacco cultivated in the same region, and still 

 moro docs it vary in that cultivated in different coun- 

 tries. The Havana has about two per cent, of 



