OF AGRICULTURE. 133 



the better ; for it is a plant easily affected by the 

 changes of the weather, after the drying commences. 

 It is liable to mildew in damp weather ; that is, when 

 the leaf changes from its original color to a pale 

 yellow cast, and from this, by parts, to an even brown. 



When the middle stem is perfectly dry, it can be 

 taken down, and the leaves stripped from the stalk 

 and put in bulk to sweat ; that is, to make tobacco of 

 them. The leaves are to be stripped from the stalk 

 in damp or cloudy weather, when they are more 

 easily handled and the separation of the different 

 qualities rendered more easy. The good leaves are 

 kept to themselves, for "ivrappers" and the most 

 defective ones for "fillings." 



When the tobacco is put in bulk, the stems of the 

 leaves should all be kept in one direction, to facilitate 

 the tying of them in "hanks," afterward making the 

 bulk two or three feet high and of proportionate 

 width. To guard against the leaves becoming over- 

 heated, and to equalize the fermentation or "sweat- 

 ing," after the first twenty- four hours put the outside 

 leaves in the center, and those in the center to the 

 outside of the bulk. By doing this once or twice, 

 and taking care to cover the bulk with sheets or 

 blankets, so as to exclude all air from it, and leaving 

 it in that state forty days, the tobacco acquires an 

 odor strong enough to produce sneezing, and the other 

 qualities of cured leaf. The process of curing may 

 then be considered as completed. 



Then take some of the most injured leaves, but of 

 the best quality, and in proportion to the quantity of 

 totfacco made, and place them in clear water; there 

 let them remain until they rot, which they will do in 



