No. 4.] TOBACCO GROWING. 275 



paper, cloth, etc. From now on the crop must be kept damp, 

 and the shed should be shut as tight as possible to keep out 

 the wind. 



Stripping. 



As soon as possible after the tobacco is taken down "strip- 

 ping" begins. With the hands on either side of the pile a 

 section is uncovered, each plant is taken up, and the leaves 

 rapidly picked off or "stripped" one at a time. The stripper 

 begins at the butt, and when finished piles the stumps behind 

 him. The leaves are placed in the stripping boxes which are 

 of different sizes, 36 inches long and 12 inches square being 

 about the average. The box is made with three sides and the 

 ends tight, with saw calves on the side for the string. First 

 the string is placed in the box, then paper of the right size. 

 After the box is full the paper is brought over the top, the string 

 is tied and the bundle taken out of the box. The bundles are 

 piled up from three to five high and the crop is then ready for 

 delivery. The grower has to deliver the crop to the place 

 agreed upon at time of sale, either to a warehouse or a railroad 

 station. Some of the crops are bought in the field before they 

 are harvested, but the majority of the tobacco is sold, and 

 nearly all is delivered to the sorting shops in the bundle. The 

 sorting, packing and sweating is done by the dealer in most 

 cases, and there are the best of reasons for this, as from twenty 

 to thirty varieties are made from the crop and one single 

 grower would have only a little of each variety. 



The sorting shop of to-day is a good example of specializing. 

 Here the dealer will grade and pack to suit his trade, making 

 light, medium and dark wrappers, with three to five sizes of 

 each; binders, top leaves and fillers, with different sizes of 

 each. These different grades are packed into boxes 2^ feet 

 square and of different lengths. From .300 to 375 pounds are 

 packed and pressed into a case, which usually goes directly 

 to the sweatroom. This sweating process used to be done in 

 nature's good time, and was accomplished during the hot 

 summer months, the tobacco being dry and ready for market 

 in the fall. Now, however, the crop is forced to sweat by 



