286 The Fermentation of Cacao 



ones, because the tobacco is not so liable to 

 house-burn. The flue-cured tobacco requires 

 only a few days for its curing. After tobacco 

 has been thoroughly cured, it should be stripped 

 and sorted into different grades, and after a 

 certain time it should be put down in bulk for 

 fermentation. Fermenting tobacco is an art, 

 and the process is due to enzymes rather than 

 to bacteria as was once thought. These 



O 



enzymes are destroyed when the temperature 

 of the tobacco is raised above 152 F. Before 

 tobacco is placed in hogsheads it should be 

 dried out so that it will contain about i r per 

 cent, moisture. Fermentation takes place 

 more rapidly at a high temperature than at a 

 low one. The stripping, grading and sorting 

 should be done only by an expert. The dark, 

 heavy export tobaccos are cured in close barns 

 by an open fire under the tobacco and require 

 close attention during all of the stages of 

 curing. It is possible to cure the tobacco a 

 bright yellow or a dark mahogany by simply 

 varying the temperature, the humidity of the 

 atmosphere, and the length of time in curing." 

 Mr. Charles R. Jones warns us, in the article 

 he contributed to the Philippine Journal of 

 Science, Manila, P.I. (vol. viii, Section D., 

 No. i, February, 1913, p. 27), on the tobacco 

 or cigarette beetle (Lasio derma serricorne, 

 Fabr.), that with open mandalas, or fermenting 

 piles (see illustration, fig. i), where the beetles 

 have free access to the leaves, they do incalcu- 



