1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



813 



ON CURIKG TOBACCO. 



To the Eilitorof the Farmers' Register. 



I ought before to have redeemed a pledge I gave 

 ill a Ibrmer communication, that I would, ni due 

 time, say something upon the subject of' curing 

 tobacco. But the great draught on my time, 

 which is unnecessary here to state in detail, has 

 prevented it. And, indeed, there are so many 

 cultivators who eclipse me, and (by close personal 

 attention, which I cannot give on account of tlie 

 extent ot'my business,) understand the minutiae of 

 it better than I do, that [ really feel some delicacy 

 in the attempt. I will, nevertheless, endeavor to 

 explain the general principles upon which the pro- 

 cess oujrht to be carried on, which, in truth, is 

 nearly all that can be done in the compass of acom- 

 munication not too long to be read. It may be of 

 some use to those who are novices in the busines;^. 



In the first place I will remark, that the sap in 

 tobacco contains more oil than any plant with 

 which I am acquainted. The whole art, then, 

 consists in evaporating the water from it, so as to 

 leave it in the purest possible state, and thegreatest 

 quantity. To etlect this, it is all-important to let 

 it be as ripe as possible before it is cu^ I believe 

 it may be assumed, that nine out of ten cut too 

 soon, though the nuitiber of them has been di- 

 minishing, since the dealers in the article have ta- 

 ken up the habit of adnnonishing them. The firs; 

 ste|) it takes is to assume yellow spots. This 

 should begin in the field, if it does not f^re so much 

 as to malce it necessary to save it from destruction, 

 and many are mduccd to cut it for this cause, 

 when perhaps a change of weather, from wet to 

 dry, might stop it, as it frequently does. But this 

 question can only be settled by observation and re- 

 flection. Although it assumes the yellow spots in 

 the field, it is still proper to let it stand two, three, or 

 lour days, according to circumstances of heat and 

 moisture in the atmosphere, when il'it ripened green 

 in the field, which it will sometimes do, it should be- 

 gin to assume these yellow spots in the house. The 

 firing should then commence in a very small way, 

 and be very gradually increased for several days, 

 till it will bear such a degree of heat as will cure 

 the thin parts of the leaf, and the small fibres. It 

 should then rest a day or more, to allow the stems 

 and larnre fibres to diffuse the sap which is in them, 

 and afibrd an opportunity to evaporate the water, 

 and leave the oil in the leaf, where it ought to be. 

 But when the process of firing is commenced, the 

 tobacco should never be allowed to get in high or- 

 der till the stems are cured. After this is done in 

 great measure, it is well to let it rest again, and 

 send out the remaining sap to gain as much oil as 

 possible in the thinner parts ol the leaf Let 

 it be noted, that v/henever the tobacco suffers for 

 want of fire, it will be known by the '•'strutting" of 

 the leaf, which should never be suffered after it is 

 first -'limbered" by the sun when it is cut. The 

 strutting of the stem is produced by the flowing 

 back of the sap froim the leaf into the stem which 

 it has a tendency to do when it requires heat. It 

 is this which inr.poverishes the leaf along the stems. 

 During the early part of the process of curing, 

 care should be taken to let it have air, otherwise it 

 will sweat, and the oil will be cooked in the water, 

 instead of the water being evaporated from it. 

 To this end it should be hung thin, say, in large 

 tobacco, not more than nine plants oil a stick, and 



Vol. IV"— 40 



the sticks 8 or 9 inches apart at least, according to 

 the size of the tobacco. During the first resting 

 spell indicated above, if house-room be scarce, it 

 may be re-hung by putting the plants from lour 

 sticks on three, or three upon two, as the case may 

 be. This saves room and fire too. 



The reasoning above is to show the necessity of 

 heat in curing. As fiir as the sun can be substi- 

 tuted for fire, it is proper to use it, more especially 

 when it is first cut, when it should be kept on a 

 scaffold as long as it is sal"e from rain. But when 

 there is a very lull crop for the hands, it is hazard- 

 ous to trust too much out at once. The judicious 

 plainter will regulate (his by circumstances. I 

 once saw a crop of eight hogsheads sell for nearly 

 double the price of similar tobacco, because it was 

 cured by natural instead of artificial heat, in houses 

 entirely open (as it was said) on the south side, 

 the weather being favorable lor the object. It is 

 unnecessary to state that the manufacturers prefer 

 that which is cured with as little fire as possible. 

 It is difficult, however, to cure a large crop with- 

 out a good deal of fire. It may be well to observe, 

 that tobacco, like bacon, is cured in a variety of 

 ways, by different persons; while some will be 

 good in each way. 



There is little doubt that the foregoing observa- 

 tions will be criticised by some who may perhaps 

 understand the subject better than I do. If so, 

 my object will be attained by eliciting the practice 

 of others. Something may be gained by adopt- 

 ing parts of each, or letting each pass for what it 

 is worth, 



V/hile I have dwelt on the quantity of oil con- 

 tained in tobacco, I have said nothing of another 

 ingredient which it contains in large proportion, 

 viz: saltpetre. Itis very common in rich tobacco, 

 to see it exude from the stems so as to make it 

 white with pure saltpetre. This, however, when 

 it is seen on fine tobacco, is a proof that it was not 

 sufficiently fired ; because it ought to be expelled 

 from the stem and circulated in the leaf, where it 

 should be incorporated in the oil. As a proof of 

 the quantity of this ingredient, I will mention a 

 fact within my own knowledge. During the revo- 

 lutionary war, my lather was in the habit of boil- 

 ing his tobacco stalks, and pouring the water into 

 a number of rough traj's, with pens of sticks rising 

 to the surface of the water, to which the saltpetre 

 attached itself in delicate spangles like icicles. 

 This was stroked off' into a dish in its pure state. 

 In those days, there was more carelessness in cur- 

 ing than at present, otherwise the saltpetre would 

 not have been allowed to remain in the stalks in so 

 larjre quantity. 



Before I close this communication, I must warn 

 such as gave credit to my former communication on 

 ihesubjectof packingplant land for burning at a fu- 

 ture day, that in several instances my last effort fail- 

 ed. In the month of October a rain fell, which wet 

 the land under the brush and wood more than I had 

 supposed. A threatening prospect for more induced 

 me to set fire to them, and several that were wetter 

 than the rest made apoor turn-out. If I ha<l waited 

 till November, as I generally do, a dry spell had put 

 them in fine order. Anolfier evil also attended 

 them. The unprecedented quantity of niin which 

 fell during the winter, forbade my chopping them 

 lightly again before sowing, and the ground be- 

 came too compact. This would not have been 

 the case if they had been made rich enough. 1 



