TOBACCO 257 



Topping and Suckering. 



Topping is done to prevent the plant from going to 

 flower and seed. The leaves ripen sooner if the plant 

 be topped. Some growers top the plants as soon as the 

 buds appear, while others wait until full blossom. From 

 nine to twelve leaves should be left on each plant if 

 leaves of nearly uniform size are desired. Some growers 

 top the plant by pinching the leading stem, which will 

 prevent the formation of buds or flowers. 



Whenever shoots or suckers appear at the base of the 

 leaves where they join the parent stalk, they should be 

 removed. If they are allowed to grow longer than 

 2 or 3 inches there will be a tendency to the production 

 of a thin, poor leaf. 



Harvesting. 



From three to five weeks after tobacco has been topped 

 it should begin to ripen, and just as fast as it ripens 

 it should be harvested. The wise grower should fertilize 

 carefully but heavily, thus insuring a good tonnage, and 

 by good attention secure big yields of prize quality. The 

 stalk is either split and hung on a stick or the leaves 

 are stripped off the stalk, tied up in bundles and hung 

 up in the curing barn. In districts where tobacco is 

 primed or stripped off the stalk, harvesting can begin 

 very soon after topping; in fact, farmers sometimes begin 

 priming off the bottom leaves the same week they begin 

 topping, but in the old belt harvesting has to be post- 

 poned until most of the leaves are ripe. Frequently 

 bottom leaves are lost in the field, however, through 

 waiting for the top leaves to ripen. 



Much practice is necessary to determine the precise 

 time for cutting the tobacco plant, and personal experi- 

 ence of the grower is important in this respect. 



Curing. 



It takes about four days and nights continuous firing 

 to flue-cure a barn of tobacco. The temperature varies 

 from 95 up to 200 F. at the finish. 

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