THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



1S3 



irrouml ia wet, the leaves are at tliis linie. of the 

 day ill order to be iralliered. Leaves ixalliereil 

 wlien ihe dew is on them, will injure belore iliey 

 fj;et dry. Tobacco, wlicn beinjj cut, siiould not, 

 il' it can be i)revented, be sutfered lo fall too 

 much — tiuu is, lie on the <Tround unlil the leaves 

 become very limber; Ibr when they become too 

 nmcli so, they chim around' the stalk, and the 

 tobacco will not cure so ^ood by it. A crreat deal 

 oi' care is necessary while tobacco is bein>j: cut 

 and carried to the housfc; it must not be sufler- 

 od to lie in heaps and heat. While laying in the 

 field, if the sun shines hot at ihe time, it will be 

 burnt by the sun, if permitied tf; lay too long. 

 When hauling il to the house, the loads should 

 not be large, as it will bruise when hauled in large 

 loads. I have seen some persons have bushes 

 wiih green leaves Jaid in the bottom of their carts 

 belore the tobacco was put in the cart. This 

 was done to prevent the .tobacco Irora being 

 bruised. (O.) 



There are three ways in use Ibr hanging of the 

 tobacco plants on the stick, one way is, by split- 

 ting the stalk before the plants are cut, another 

 way is lo put a peg in the big end of the stalk ; 

 this is a tedious way and though in old limes the 

 only way used, lias now nearly gone out of use. 

 The other way is to put a sharp pointed iron 

 spear, with a socket like a chisel on a tobacco 

 stick, and then run the plants on the stick, by 

 running the iron spear through the stalk of the 

 plants. This is the quickest way of the three, 

 but unless there is a considerable space left be- 

 tween the plants, the tobacco will injure. The 

 most careful hands should only be permitted to 

 slick tobacco in this way. Those hands who 

 could not be trusted to put tobacco on the sticks, 

 could be engaged in the tobacco field at other 

 work. 



The splitting of the stalk and afterwards strad- 

 dling it across a stick, though not so quick a way 

 as the one just mentioned, is a belter way for 

 several reasons, one is, the plants can be easily 

 regulated when they are put in the house ; ano- 

 ther is, the tobacco cures quicker, and when 

 housed late is not so apt lo be li-ozen in the house. 

 It does not require so muchjudsment when put- 

 ting the plants on the stick. The tobacco also, 

 is much easier to get off the stick when it is 

 wanted lo strip. 



We will now suppose the tobacco to be housed 

 and cured and ready to be stripped, that is, taking 

 the .leaves from the stalks ; whenever the tobacco 

 is moist enough, or, in planter's language, in order, 

 this can be done. The different kinds and 

 colors must be tied up in separate bundles, and 

 each kind put away by it,sfir. x\fter tobacco is 

 stripped care must be taken to prevent it Irdm 

 iieating in the hulks, which it quickly does in 

 warm weather if put away in too moist a state. 

 It it should begin to get warm it should be taken 

 out of bulk immediately and put in a situation lo 

 cool and dry. If bulks of tobacco should heat 

 in warm, wet weather, and the weather con- 

 tinues so, the best way then is to straddle the 

 bundles across sticks and hang them up in the 

 house. Tobacco of a fine color and good leaf 

 should never be suffered to heat in bulk; Ibr the 

 color, as well as the leaf, is considerably injured 

 thereby. Tobacco of a dull color and coarse leaf 

 is not injured so much by heating in hulk; though 



heating in bulk injures any tobacco more or less ; 

 the old notion that tobacco was not conditioned lo 

 pack in hogsheads until it had heated in bulk id 

 entirely erroneous. 'J'obacco may be packed 

 without injuring in the hog.-head, if properly 

 dried alter being siript from the stalks; indeed 

 lubacco after ills siri|)t retiuiresa great deal of 

 atiention to manage it properly ; and if managed 

 properly until it is in the house and cured, may 

 be by improper management or neglect, made to 

 be worth less money, afier this lime. 1 have 

 seen tobacco myself put up in bulks, and sudeied 

 almost to rot before any thing was done to it. 

 It is |)rincipally the management and handling of 

 tobacco alter it is cured, that makes the distinction 

 between a nice planter and an indifferent one. 



When bulking of tobacco the leaves should 

 be kept straight and the bundles spread open 

 somewhat like a fiin, which can easily be done, by 

 placing loo or three bundles at a lime, by the 

 person who is handing the tobacco to the bulker, 

 against his breast, and giving them a stroke down 

 with the other. I have (bund the best way lo 

 condition tobacco when stripf, lo be as follows : 

 Take two tobacco sticks and lay them parallel 

 and about one Ibot apart, then bulk on them 

 about one hundred pounds, by placing the bundles 

 across the slicks. The tobacco should be kneed 

 down; iwo persons can move these bulks when- 

 ever wanted by taking hold of the ends of ihe 

 slicks. Tobacco when bulked in this way, if not 

 very moist, will not want anything more done 

 lo it until wanted to pack, especiall}' if the bulks 

 are put up on the tiers of the barn, which can be 

 easily done by liftinir them up by the tobacco 

 slicks. After tobacco has been bulked in the way 

 here recommended the small bulks should be on 

 a drying day taken and opened, and the tobacco 

 laid down by hand on the large bulking places. 

 Bulking places should be fixed for the diflerent 

 qualities, and as the small bulks are pulled to 

 pieces the different qualities should be placed 

 apart frona each other. Though in bulking on 

 sticks as recommended, each quality as near as 

 can be at that time ascertained, should be bulked 

 to itself. In moving tobacco from the smaller to 

 the larger bulks, the large bulks should, if the 

 tobacco is very moist, have only three or four 

 courses of bundles of tobacco placed on them at 

 onetime; alter they have dried somewhat, three 

 or four more courses can be placed in the same 

 manner, and the operation repeated as long as 

 necessary. Thus a barn of tobacco may be con- 

 ditioned in this way without any of the lobacca 

 healing. 



The best direction that can be given about 

 packing of tobacco in hogsheads are, that the 

 tobacco should only be moist enough to keep it 

 from crumbling, and that fine tobacco should not 

 • be pressed so hard as to bruise it. Tobacco, 

 though often packed belbre, is hardly conditioned 

 enough belbre the month of May. 



I shall now make such remarks on the cultiva- 

 tion of tobacco and the management of the plan- 

 tation, as have been omitted in the preceding 

 part of this essay. 



Plaster of Paris, on suitable land, acts well on 

 tobacco, though it will not cure so fine a color if 

 there is a great deal of plaster put on it while in 

 the field. When there is much litter in the land 

 a small quantity of plaster is of great service; aa 



