14 



each; binders, top leaves and fillers, with different sizes of 

 each. These different grades are packed into boxes 2| feet 

 square and of dift'erent lengths. From 300 to 375 pounds are 

 packed and pressed into a case, which usually goes directly 

 to the sweatroom. This sweating process used to be done in 

 nature's good time, and was accomplished during the hot 

 summer months, the tobacco being dry and ready for market 

 in the fall. Now, however, the crop is forced to sweat by 

 placing it in a steam-heated" room with the thermometer at 

 130 degrees. In about thirty days the operation is complete, 

 and the goods are ready for market. The sorting shops employ 

 a great deal of help during the winter and pay good wages. 

 They usually open about November 1 and run well into April, 

 closing in time to let their men out for outdoor work. 



Shade-grow^n Tobacco. 



This article would not be complete without describing in a 

 measure the latest thing in growing tobacco in the valley. To 

 get a cigar wrapper that would possess the qualities of the 

 domestic leaf and yet be thin enough to compete with the goods 

 grown in the tropics the experiment of growing tobacco under 

 shade was tried first in 1900. To-day this process seems to 

 have passed the experimental stage and has evidently come to 

 stay. jNIany growers are growing from 20 to 50 acres under 

 cloth, while the larger corporations are growing from 100 to 

 300 acres. 



The entire field is set with posts with wire strung across the 

 top. This framework is then covered with cheesecloth, making 

 a vast tent. The plants are set as before described, then the 

 sides are covered so that the cloth reaches to the ground. This 

 tent tobacco is not topped,.*and often the blossoms will reach 

 the cloth 9 feet from the ground. The tobacco is cultivated 

 by the same methods as outside tobacco, and is harvested by 

 the priming method. 



Enemies. 



The first real trouble with tobacco is the fungus in the seed 

 bed, and the steaming process already described is the remedy, 

 in the opinion of many growers. 



