ually as they, mature and ripen. This is accomplished by priming the 

 crop over each week, pulling 2 to 4 leaves from each plant every 

 week, depending upon the ripeness of the leaves. As the leaves are 

 primed, they are put in narrow sleds which are pulled between the 

 rows. When a sled has been filled it is carried to the curing barn 

 where a crew of two banders pick the leaves up in hands of 2 to 3 

 leaves and hand them to a stringer, who loops the hands of tobacco to 

 a stick. The sticks of tobacco are either piled or hung in racks, 

 later the sticks of tobacco are hung in the curing barn which is 5 to 

 7 tiers high. 



There are 100,000 to 150,000 leaves in an acre of flue-cured 

 tobacco, and all of these leaves have to be handled about 10 times 

 during the harvest season. It usually takes 5 to 8 weeks to harvest 

 a crop of flue-cured tobacco. 



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r 



Af the curing barn 2 to 3 leaves are put together by two people 

 called banders and passed to the stringer who loops the "hands" 

 of tobacco to a tobacco stick. 



Curing Bright Tobacco 



The process or curing a barn of tobacco to a rich golden color 

 requires a skill which is developed only through years of experience. 

 An average size barn will hold 400 to 800 sticks of tobacco which 

 contain 60,000 to 80,000 leaves. A barn of tobacco has 7,000 tu 

 8,000 pounds of water imbibed in the tiny cells of the leaves. There- 

 fore, the main objective in curing tobacco is to eliminate the excess 

 water from the leaves in such a way as to give the tobacco a bright 

 golden color, and this is done by the use of artificial heat. 



Artificial heat is supplied to tobacco barns in various ways. 

 Some growers use the old conventional method of stoking a wood fired 

 furnace 24 hours a day by hand. Other growers use automatic therrao- 



