THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



250 



mence piling it in heaps wiih the buts towards 

 the sun, takinj;; care to handle the plants penily, 

 holding them by the buts, and avoiding any 

 pressuie upon the leaves. JJy handling llieni 

 thus, and laying thcni as lighlly as possible in 

 heaps, this process may be perlbrtncd belbre the 

 tobacco has completely liilien. The heaping 

 should always commence with the plants first cut 

 60 that they may as nearly as iiracticable, be ex- 

 posed to the sun's rays an ecjual portion ol" time, 

 or in equal degree, and should so progress till the 

 whole is heaped. The stems o( the tobacco are 

 the last pans that wilt. Being large and ridged, 

 these require more sun to make them liill, and 

 hence the necessity of placing the buts towards 

 the sun vvlien heaping tobacco. Being thus 

 placed, the stems continue to be affected by the 

 sun, vvhile the plants are lying in heaps. The 

 heaping of tobacco in some degree protects it 

 from being sun burned, but the uncovered leaves 

 are, of course, unprotected. Hence the necessity 

 of hauling the tobacco to the place of hanginir it 

 as soon as possible alter it has fallen sufficiently 

 to admit ol this being done without bruising or 

 breaking off the leaves. Sleds are the most con- 

 venient vehicles for transporting tobacco to the 

 scaffold or house where it is to be hung, if near 

 at hand. These should have smooth plank on 

 the bottom, to prevent the leaves of the tobacco 

 from bemg lorn or bruised. There should be no 

 standards in the sleds, and the tobacco should be 

 laid on in two courses, the tails lapped and buts 

 out on each side. When unloaded, the buts 

 should all lie towards the sun, unless the hanging 

 is perlbrmed in the shade oj' a house or trees. 

 These precautions are all for the purpose of pre- 

 venting the tobacco from being sun burned. If 

 the cutting take place late in the season, or when 

 the weather is cool, they will not be necessary. 



Planters who are largely engaged in the culture 

 of tobacco, will be under the necessity of raising 

 it at a considerable distance from the place of 

 housing it. In that case sleds will not be conve- 

 nient /or transporting it, and it would be a much 

 better plan to have a wagon coupled so as to hold 

 a very long body, and sufficiently high to hang 

 the tobacco, after being put on sticks, across the 

 body. The sticks should be filled with the appro- 

 priate number of plants, in the field where it grew, 

 and put at once into the wagon, pressing them as 

 close together as possible without bruising the 

 leaves. This will protect the plants from becom- 

 ing sun burned, and when the wagon arrives at 

 the place of housing it, the tobacco may at once 

 be transferred to the place where it is to be cured. 

 It would be most convenient to have two wagons, 

 so that one may be filled in the field while the 

 other is hauling and discharging its load, and 

 returning. So, also, if there be hands enough, 

 the smaller ones may be heaping the tobacco, 

 while others are engaged in putting it on sticks, 

 and conveying it lo the place of housing it. If 

 the tobacco house be so constructed as to admit 

 the wagons to pass through the centre, additional 

 facilities will be furnished lor translerriug the to- 

 bacco to the place where it is to be cured. 



Tobacco plants may be split during the heal of 

 the day, without injury. It is only liable to be 

 sun burned after it is cut. And hence the splitting 

 process may progress, while part of the hands are 

 engaged in hanging that which was cut in the 



morning. When the afternooon has so far pro- 

 gressed that tobacco may safely be cut without 

 the risk of sun burning, (which is usually about 

 four or five o'clock in August, and somewhat 

 earlier in September,) the cutting process should 

 commence, and be completed as soon as possible, 

 so as to give time lor the plants to fall sufiiciently 

 to be handled the same evening, or the next day, 

 belbre the sun has attained sufficient power to 

 injure them. The first cutting of the afternoon 

 in the early part of the season, can usually be 

 hauled and hung the same evening. That part 

 of it which has not (alien sufficiently to be handled 

 without bruising or breaking, should be suffered 

 to lie in the field, without heaping, till the next 

 day. 



It is usual, when there is not time to hang all 

 the tobacco during the same evening it is cut, to 

 let a part of it lie over till morning to be hung 

 while the dew is drying off that in the field. This 

 may be done to advantage if hauled on sleds, 

 provided care be taken to prevent it from heating 

 during the night. If suflered to lie in large heaps, 

 it will be greatly injured in the course of one 

 night. To guard against this casualty, it should 

 bespread in long rows not more than three or 

 four plants deep, when the weather is very warm. 

 In cool weather the danger of heating is not eo 

 great. A little experience will teach the tobacco 

 planter to guard against the casualty of which I 

 have been speaking. It is very important that 

 this should be done, as it is completely, ruinous 

 to so much of Jhe tobacco as may become healed 

 to a high degree, as it will do if sufiered to lie in 

 large heaps over night. 



There are two modes of treating tobacco when 

 it is cut, one is to hang it on scaffolds, exposed to 

 the weather ; the other is to hang it at once in 

 suitable houses. 



The former method must, of necessity, be re- 

 sorted to where there is a scarcity of house room. 

 By hanging sometime on a scafiold, the tobacco 

 commences curing and can be stowed much closer 

 in houses than it can be, with safety, when first 

 cut. But it is subject to serious disadvantages. 

 Those parts which are exposed to the sun are 

 liable to be sun burned, and much of it may, there- 

 fore, be injured on the scaflold. Another injury, 

 and a most material one, is, that. if suffered to 

 remain on the scaflold till the leaves begin to 

 cure, they are liable to be injured by the dews 

 which fall every night ; and still more by a rain, 

 if one should happen to liill. If the tobacco is 

 housed from the scaffold before it begins to cure, 

 not much is gained in jioint of room, when stowed 

 in the tobacco house. If suffered to hang on the 

 scafftid till partly cured, it may be much injured 

 by rains and dews. 



The safest way, therefore, is to put it in houses 

 or under sheds, as soon as it is cut. But here 

 again caremust be taken to avoid another equally, 

 that of being hmise bvrned. It is stated in the 

 Farmer's Guide, page 265, that if it is intended 

 "to cure by fire, t fie tobacco is cariied imme- 

 diately from the field to the house, hung on 

 sticks, as before described, and these sticks crowd- 

 ed as close together on the tier as they can possi- 

 bly be, so as to exclude all air from the tobacco. 

 It remains in this situation until the leaves of the 

 plants become yellow, or of the color of hickory 

 leavesjust before they fall. Thia will generally 



