44 



HOW TO EAISE TOBACCO. 



seed. I have caught as many as twenty bud-worms on 

 one neglected seed-plant. 



SucKERiNG. — After the tobacco has been topped 

 about a week, there will be little sprouts or suckers 

 put forth on the stalk, at the but of every leaf. If 

 they are neglected, they will grow up and go to seed, 

 and take all the nourishment from the stalk, giving 

 the plant a haggard appearance, and literally ruining 

 the tobacco. These suckers must be strictly attended 

 to ; they should be puUed off as soon as they have 

 grown long enough to be conveniently taken hold of 

 by the fingers. 



There are generally three sets of suckers, sometimes 

 four. After one set is pulled off, in a week or so there 

 will be another set put forth, in the same place, and 

 BO on until the tobacco is ripe. 



The better the worms and suckers are kept off, the 

 better the tobacco will be. 



Harvesting and Curing. — When the tobacco is 

 ripe it has a yellow faded color, and becomes brittle ; 

 the surface of the leaf is rough and ridged. By bend- 

 ing the leaf short between the fingers, it will break 

 before it will double. 



The sticks to hang it on should be in readiness. 

 The best mode of hanging or stringing, is with a V- 

 shaped spear, made of iron or steel. The spear has a 

 socket, large to admit the end of the stick. The 

 sticks should be sharpened at one end, to fit the 

 socket ; should be four feet six inches in length, two 

 inches wide, and one inch thick. A stick of these 

 dimensions will hold eight plants. 



The tobacco should be cut off just below the bottom 

 leaf, then turn the plant upside down, and let it remain 

 so till the sun wilts it. When it is wilted it can be 

 handled without breaking ; then it should be taken up 

 and laid in piles of eight stalks each, placing the buts of 

 the stalks towards the sun, to prevent it from sun- 

 burning. When it is sun-burnt it turns black, and it 

 can not be cured any other color than black, which 

 ruins its sale. 



The sticks should be strewed along, one stick to a 

 pile ; place the spear on the end of the stick, and set 

 the stick upright ; then take up the tobacco, one stalk 

 at a time, and thrust it on the stick, letting the spear 

 pass through the stalk, about six inches from the but 

 end ; then take the spear ofi" and take up the stick, 

 and shake the tobacco out straight, and set the stick 

 up with the buts toward the sun. 



Some tobacco-growers prefer splitting the stalk 

 from the top down to within about six inches of the 

 but, then hang it on the sticks. But I can not agree 

 with them, for it is more difficult to handle, and is apt 

 to slip off of the stick, when moving it ; besides, the 

 tobacco cured in this manner is not so heavy as if it 

 was speared. It dries out quicker by being split, but 

 the substance evaporates instead of remaining in the 

 leaf. I am not certain that it injures the taste of the 



tobacco, but I am certain that split tobacco is lighter 

 than that which is speared. 



Some prefer hanging the tobacco on scaffolds in the 

 field until it is ready to be put in the barn and cured 

 by fire. But it is the safest to house it as soon as it is 

 ■ strung on the sticks. 



Scaffolding is done by placing poles on forks, about 

 four feet apart, and four or five feet from the ground ; 

 then hang the tobacco between the poles, letting the 

 ends of the sticks rest on the poles. This procedure 

 is unsafe, for the rain may come and saturate the 

 tobacco and wash off the gum, thus making it light 

 and chaffy. 



Tobacco should not be exposed to the weather after 

 it is cut. It should be immediately conveyed to the 

 barn and hung up. As soon as it gets about half yel- 

 lowed, a slow fire should be started under it ; if made 

 too hot at first, the tobacco will turn black. About 

 the second day the ends of the leaves will begin to 

 curl up ; then the fire should be gradually increased, 

 till it heats the tobacco blood warm ; it should be kept 

 up so till the leaf is thoroughly cured. 



If this rule be strictly adhered to, the tobacco will be 

 cured bright. The brighter it is cured the better it sells. 



Our barns, in this State, are generally built of logs 

 some have frames. The barn should be made tight up 

 to the tobacco, which should hang about eight feet 

 from the ground ; above this leave cracks or air-holes 

 sufficient for free ventilation. 



A barn to hold two and a half acres of tobacco, 

 which is as much as one man can attend to, should be 

 twenty-four feet square. It should have five tiers of 

 poles, the lowest about six feet from the ground ; these 

 should extend acx'oss the barn, and be fiistened at each 

 end into the walls. The poles should be four feet 

 apart, and the tiers directly one above another. 



The sticks which contain the tobacco should bo 

 placed within eight inches of each other, on all the 

 poles except the bottom ones, which should be lefl 

 vacant directly over the fire. When tobacco is nearly 

 cured, it very readily catches fire. 



If there be a wet spell of weather before the stalks 

 are thoroughly dry, build a fire under the tobacco suf- 

 ficiently hot to keep it dry. It should not get damp 

 and pliant until the stalks are dry, then it may be al- 

 lowed to get damp. 



Stripping will be the farmer's labor during damp 

 weather, until his tobacco is stripped and ready for 

 market. 



The lugs, shipping, and manufacturing, which are 

 worst, medium, and best qualities, should be separated 

 at stripping. The luffS, or worst quality, are found at 

 the bottom of the plant ; they are chaffy and light 

 leaves, and should be stripped from the stalk and tied 

 in bundles by themselves with all of the ragged, 

 black, and injured leaves. 



The second quality, or shipping tobacco, is a grade 



