162 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



as the flower button appears. In some localities the lower 4 

 or 5 leaves are removed at the same time. This process is 

 commonly called priming. The leaves mature about 80 to 120 

 days from the time of transplanting. 



The process of curing and fermenting tobacco has received 

 a great amount of technical attention from chemists and biolo- 

 gists, and satisfactory methods have been worked out for dif- 

 ferent tobacco districts in the various tobacco producing coun- 

 tries of the world. The essential points in the process of curing 

 tobacco have been thoroughly investigated by Dr. Garner of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, and his investi- 

 gations have been utilized in the following account of tobacco 

 curing. 



In all cases the first requirement for good curing is that the 

 tobacco be ripe when harvested. The young leaf has a rich, 

 deep green color, and the food-manufacturing function of the 

 leaves is about at its maximum when the flower head begins to 

 appear and removal of this flower head stimulates the plant 

 to a further effort to reproduce itself by sending out secondary 

 shoots or suckers. These, however, are at once removed by 

 the grower. Under such treatment the substance of the leaf 

 is not carried back into the stalk, but remains in the body of 

 the leaf. The accumulation of a surplus food supply largely 

 in the form of starch causes the appearance of a lighter shade 

 of green and lightish or yellowish spots on the leaf which are 

 characteristic of the ripe leaf. The proper stage of ripeness, 

 however, like most of the other technical details connected 

 with the growth and curing of tobacco, can be learned only by 

 long practical experience. 



If the ripe leaf of the tobacco is quickly dried by heat it 

 will never develop the characteristic aroma and flavor of to- 

 bacco. The development of this aroma and flavor may also 

 be prevented by subjecting the leaf to anesthetics. The process 

 of curing is therefore considered as consisting essentially in 

 forcing the leaves to undergo a process of slow starvation. 



