224 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



the 8tem from the top down to within six inches of the ground 

 before cutting, claiming that the tobacco cures better. When 

 thus split the plants are hung astride the sticks ; when not split 

 the plants are sometimes nailed to the sticks and sometimes 

 hung with strings. A tobacco barn, to hold two arid a half acres, 

 should be twenty -four feet square, and with posts high enough to 

 give five tiers, the lowest six feet from the ground. Some prac- 

 tice fire-curing, which is done by building fires in holes dug in 

 the ground under the tobacco, and allowing the heat and smoke 

 to pass up through it; and this is necessary when the buildings 

 are crowded, especially in damp weather. Others prefer to build 

 larger barns, and give the plants more room, thus avoiding 

 the expense and risk of fire, as there is always danger of 

 burning the building. 



STRIPPING. When the tobacco is thoroughly cured, so that 

 the stern of the leaf shows no sap, it is ready to strip. This 

 must be done in damp weather. The leaves are stripped from 

 the stems and assorted into their grades. Ten to fifteen leaves 

 are put in a bunch and tied together at the butts, and this 

 makes what is called a "hand of tobacco." 



From the foregoing it will be evident to the farmer who has 

 no practical knowledge of the crop, that it would be folly for 

 him to attempt to grow it on a large scale with only such knowl- 

 edge as can be obtained from books. There are nice points in 

 the curing and handling of tobacco which can only be learned 

 by experience and familiarity with the plant. It is a crop like 

 cotton, which gives work almost the entire year, and which ad- 

 mits of no delay or postponement, and no one should attempt to 

 grow it unless willing to work early and late, and so situated as to 

 command all the help necessary. When we consider the risk of 

 the crop, the large amount of labor and manure required to grow 

 it, its exhaustion of the soil, and that it only gratifies a de- 

 praved taste, and is largely used by poor men whose families 

 need every dollar they can earn, it becomes a question to which 

 careful consideration should be given before any farmer under- 

 takes its production. If any one determines to engage in the 

 business, he should either begin with a very small plot, and in- 



