QUESTIONS 371 



257) to curing sheds or tobacco barns. The grower learns to detect 

 carefully the proper stage at which to harvest the crop. The 

 curing and the manner of subsequent handling of the crop depend 

 upon the type of tobacco and the use for which it is intended (Fig. 

 258). In some cases the large wrapper leaves are strung on racks 

 singly, being detached from the stem. Curing must be done with- 

 out causing mold or other fungous growth. Curing barns are 

 provided with numerous ventilators for the removal of moisture 

 from the leaves. The grower must give careful attention to the 

 ventilation, keeping out the air when the weather is wet and 

 allowing free access when the air is drier. Artificial heat is seldom 

 necessary, but is often used. This is usually produced by the 

 burning of charcoal in small sheet-iron stoves. The color is likely 

 to be affected if artificial heat is applied in the curing (Fig. 259). 

 When the tobacco is dry it is ready to be graded for market. 

 The work of stripping leaves from stems and grading the product 

 should be done when the weather is moist enough to prevent the 

 leaves from breaking. The leaves may be marketed in the loose 

 condition if factories are nearby, but if the tobacco is to be shaped 

 it is packed in large bales, or pressed into barrels and hogsheads. 

 In the tobacco districts of the South this latter process is called 

 "prizing." 



FIELD AND LABORATORY EXERCISES 



1. Management of Plant Beds. Visit tobacco plant-beds and note the 

 development of plants under the covers as compared with volunteer or chance 

 plants growing outside the beds. Study the methods of watering, transplant- 

 ing, preparation of fields, and other points incident to this crop. 



2. Tests with Fertilizers. Tobacco plants should be grown in the garden 

 under different treatments of fertilizer. Compare the growth when other con- 

 ditions are all alike. Does the tobacco crop require more nitrogen or more 

 potash as compared with corn and potatoes in the same kind of soil? 



3. Curing Tobacco. In the fall of the year tobacco barns of different types 

 should be examined and descriptions or drawings made to show the methods 

 of arranging the tiers of plants. Also compare the methods of ventilation and 

 methods of drying. 



QUESTIONS 



1. What type or types of tobacco are grown in your state? 



2. What regions grow wrapper tobacco? What filler tobacco? What chew 



ing tobacco? 



3. How are tobacco beds started? 



4. How are the plants transplanted? 



5. Describe the cultivation of the crop. 



6. Describe the harvesting and curing of tobacco. 



References. United States Farmers' Bulletins: 120, Insects Affecting 

 Tobacco; 343, The Cultivation of Tobacco in Kentucky and Tennessee; 416, 

 The Production of Cigar-leaf Tobacco in Pennsylvania; 523, Tobacco Curing; 

 571, Tobacco Culture. 



