are opened to allow the cured tobacco to absorb 

 moisture from the atmosphere. 



Bulk curing is a newer method of preparing the leaf 

 for market. Although the basic results of curing this 

 way are the same as with conventional methods, the 

 actual process is quite different. Bulk curing involves 

 the passage of conditioned air through tightly packed 

 tobacco. The principal reason for changing from the 

 conventional method to bulk curing is to save labor. 

 Bulk curing also offers a further advantage in that 

 humidity, temperature and circulation are more easily 

 controlled. With the disappearance of available labor 

 for harvesting tobacco, bulk barns are becoming in- 

 creasingly popular. 



R 



rom farm to market 



After the tobacco has been cured and removed from 

 the curing barn, it is placed temporarily in a "pack 

 house" and readied for market. 



By the time the farmer brings his tobacco to market 

 he has already graded and separated it according to 

 its specific quality, usually determined by the part of 

 the plant from which the leaves originated. Tobacco 

 is taken to market in standardized burlap sheets, 96 

 inches square. These loads of tobacco usually do not 

 exceed 200 pounds each. 



The marketing season is opened by intense activity 

 on the part of auctioneers, buyers, warehousemen, 

 truckers and others who work in and out of the 97 

 warehouses operating in Georgia's 23 markets. Georgia 

 farmers sold 114,165,000 pounds of flue-cured tobacco 

 in 1971 at an average $77.50 per hundred pounds. They 

 received a total $88,478,000 for the crop. 



