210 CHAPTER XII 



It is best to harvest in the early morning, because the 

 colour is then best determined and the leaves snap readily. 

 Harvesting after heavy rains should be avoided, as after heavy 

 rains the leaf, because the gums and oils have been v^^ashed 

 out, is thin and papery. 



Usually not more than four leaves are picked from each 

 plant at a time. After picking they are placed in boxes or 

 baskets, taken to the stringing shed, strung, and conveyed to 

 the wilting room the same day. If left over, fermentation 

 might result. 



Stringing. — In order to obtain uniformity in curing, be- 

 fore stringing, the leaves must be graded according to size 

 and colour. Diseased leaves must be discarded. Damaged 

 leaves should be threaded, cured, and baled separately. 



The leaves should be threaded so that all face the same 

 way, and the butts must be kept even, so that baling later on 

 will be facilitated. The threaded leaves are tied to laths of 

 bajnboo or sticks. 



Wilting. — As the laths are filled they are placed in the 

 wilting room, which should be cool, fairly dark, and free from 

 draughts and dust. In this room, usually constructed of 

 brick and thatched, the temperature and humidity should be 

 under control. A temperature of 70° F. is considered an 

 optimum one, and, as regards humidity, the reading of the 

 wet bulb should be 2^° to 3° below that of the dry bulb. 

 Moisture should be added, or the ventilation increased 

 accordingly. 



Leaf harvested at the proper stage should remain in the 

 wilting room until it takes on a pale, greenish-yellow colour. 



Curing. — The tobacco is then taken from the wilting 

 room to the curing racks in the sun. At first, the laths should 

 be placed close together, and if the sun is excessively hot the 

 leaf should be covered with hessian or cheese-cloth to prevent 

 sunburn. So as to prevent premature drying the laths are 

 gradually put further apart, and the leaf thus slowly exposed 

 to the full rays of the sun. 



On the curing racks the leaf gradually changes from a 

 pale to a clear yellow, and then, with drying, to the desired 

 yellowish-brown or bronze of good Turkish tobacco. 



The leaf remains on the racks for twelve to fifteen days, 

 then the laths are placed on clean canvas on the ground to 

 complete curing. The laths are turned daily, early in the 

 morning, until the whole leaf, including the midrib, is dry. 

 Curing is usually completed in eighteen to twenty-one days. 



