TOBACCO. 



the heat throughout the whole process 10 

 every 4 or 5 hours, until the thermometer 

 reaches 150, which is called a curing heat. 

 The continuation of this heat depends much 

 on the state of the atmosphere, as well as on 

 the size of the plant : it should, however be 

 continued until the whole plant is thoroughly 

 cured. As soon, then, as the tobacco comes in 

 order to handle, you may remove it to some 

 other house, hanging it as thick as you can 

 conveniently press the sticks together, where 

 it will remain in perfect security until you are 

 ready for stripping. 



In the month of November you may safely 

 begin to strip ; and much care should be used 

 in making the different qualities, as \vell as 

 tying the different bundles; the "tie leaf" 

 should be stemmed, which looks much better 

 than to have one-half of the leaf hanging 

 down the bundle. A good hand will tie from 

 700 to 1000 bundles in the day The tobacco 

 stripped during the day, can be easily packed 

 down in bulk at night, on a platform raised 18 

 or 20 inches from the floor, where it may re- 

 main until winter is nearly over, when it must 

 be rehung in order to get it in prizing order. 



Much depends on the order for prizing. The 

 stem must be perfectly dry : never strike or 

 take down tobacco for prizing, unless the wind 

 is at some southern point ; and it should be 

 taken down as dry as you can possibly handle 

 without very much breaking it. When down, 

 it should be well covered with fodder or leaves ; 

 if the " season" continues, you may pack it in 

 bulk as straight as possible for prizing; the 

 hogshead weighing from 16 to 18 cwt. The 

 following are a few extracts from notes taken 

 last summer during the curing season. 



" 15th Sept. 1833. First barn tobacco very 

 ripe weather hot and dry cut Friday com- 

 menced firing Monday morning thermometer 

 90 at 9 o'clock 12 o'clock 106 process too 

 rapid half past 3 o'clock, 1 10 fired all night 

 Tuesday 9 o'clock, 120 3 o'clock 150 

 fired all night Wednesday 150 fired all 

 night Thursday 150 Friday 150 fires 

 kept up irregularly, and stopped in the evening, 

 High wind each day thermometer at back 

 side of the house." When this tobacco came 

 in order to be examined, I discovered that a 

 small portion was somewhat injured by the 

 fires being too strong in the commencement, 

 as seen above. 



"16th Sept. 1833. Second barn tobacco 

 ripe but not very ripe weather hot and dry 

 cut Saturday commenced firing Monday 

 smoked all day at 90 Tuesday the same half 

 day Tuesday evening thermometer 100 

 Wednesday morning leaf half cured on the 

 lower tier heat 140 fired half night Thurs- 

 day 146 Friday 146 fired half night hand- 

 somely cured thermometer 3 feet from the 

 door and 5 feet high windy each day. 



"22dSept. Third barn dry weather cut 

 Saturday not very ripe commenced firing 

 Monday morning 90 continued all night at 

 same Tuesday 9 o'clock 110 tails curling 

 tobacco looks very well Wednesday 120 at 

 9 o'clock lower tier leaf nearly cured Thurs- 

 day 150 fired all night Friday 160 fired 



TOBACCO. 



till bedtime." This house, on examination, 

 was very well cured. 



I forgot to mention in the proper place that 

 my barns are made as tight and close as pos- 

 sible. I do not, however, think that the roof 

 should be very close ; my barns are covered 

 | with oak boards, and are generally open enough 

 to let off the smoke and vapour as fast as they 

 are formed. Some of my neighbours have win- 

 dows made just under the comb of the house. 



As the essential properties of the tobacco 

 plant are very volatile, the writer maintains 

 that the sooner it is well cured and pressed into 

 hogsheads the better, and the hogshead cannot 

 be too tight. If the crop comes in early, so as 

 to admit of being cured in autumn, it will be 

 all the better. It should not, if possible, be al- 

 lowed to remain out of the hogsheads all winter. 

 He tells the planters of Virginia not to fear that 

 they will ever overstock the world with fine 

 tobacco, and thereby reduce the price. The 

 finer it is made, the less will be made in Eu- 

 rope and other countries not so favourable to 

 the perfection of its qualities. The low, dull 

 state of the markets for common and inferior 

 tobacco, is not the result of too much, but a 

 consequence of its indifferent quality, which 

 causes it to be little if any better than that 

 which is made on the continent of Europe, 

 with which it comes in competition. 



In Maryland and Virginia it is estimated 

 that one good hand can manage 6000 plants, 

 which, allowing a yard to each, would cover 

 about an acre and a quarter. A hogshead 

 weighing 1350 Ibs. (some weigh 1800) is con- 

 sidered a good yield for one hand. On the fine 

 rich lands of Kentucky, from 1000 to 1500 Ibs. 

 are raised per acre. In Virginia the leaves of 

 4 good plants are estimated to make 1 Ib. of 

 cured tobacco. 



Some of the diseases, accidents, and ene- 

 mies to which tobacco is exposed, are, in the 

 language of the planter, worm-holes, ripe-shot 

 or sun-burnt, moon-burnt, stunted, torn by 

 storms of hail and wind, injured or killed by 

 frost, house-burnt. 



TOBACCO, Chemistry of. Under the head of 

 AMMONIA it has been observed that the juice of 

 fresh tobacco leaves contains ammoniacal 

 salts. The existence of the volatile alkali in 

 cured tobacco, is shown by the action of the 

 smoke of a cigar upon blue vegetable flowers, 

 or vegetable colours, turning the reds to purple, 

 and the purples to green. 



When the leaves of the tobacco plant are 

 subjected to distillation with water, a weak 

 ammoniacal liquid is obtained, upon which a 

 white, fatty, crystallizable substance swims, 

 which does not contain nitrogen, and is quite 

 destitute of smell. But when the same plant, 

 after being dried, is moistened with water, tied 

 together in small bundles, and placed in heaps, 

 a peculiar process of decomposition takes 

 place. Fermentation commences, and is ac- 

 companied by the absorption of oxygen ; the 

 leaves now become warm and emit the cha- 

 racteristic smell of prepared tobacco and snuff. 

 When the fermentation is carefully promoted 

 and too high a heat avoided, this smell in- 

 creases and becomes more delicate ; and after 



1051 



