AGRICULTURE ON THE KHIiS'E. 33 



mer suffices where the land is perfectly clean. The leaves 

 sprout until the stem has twelve to fourteen upon it, when 

 the to}) is plucked off. The lowest leaves are here called 

 the sand-leaves, " Sandgut ;" above these are the earth- 

 leaves, " Erdgut," which are larger and thicker; the 

 uppermost are the best leaves, " Bestgut." The plucking 

 commences with the lowest, or sand leaves, which are 

 bound on the field in bundles by themselves ; the earth- 

 leaves are next picked, and kept apart from the others ; 

 the best leaves are taken off last. When the leaves are 

 carted home, on which occasion care is taken to keep the 

 bundles as clean as possible, a slit is made in the stalk at 

 the thick end of the leaf, and the leaves are piled up 

 until they begin to wither. They are then strung on 

 poles, to be hungup in the drying-shed. This shed has 

 walls of open wicker-work, and there are openings in the 

 roof to facilitate a thorough draught. The peasants hang 

 up their leaves in the haylofts over their stables ; but 

 the moist effluvia from below is found to injure the leaf. 

 When the leaves are partially dried they are piled (the 

 qualities each apart) in square heaps to ferment, and 

 these heaps are broken up and reconstructed occasionally, 

 to allow the bundles that at one time lay outside to be 

 placed in the middle, until all are equally heated. The 

 tobacco is then sold to the manufacturer, and, as ten 

 plants yield one pound weight, the return is considerable, 

 being often 60 dollars for a Prussian morgen, or 15/. 155. 

 per English acre. Of this one-third is estimated to cover 

 the labour, and contracts are frequently made by the 

 richer growers with labourers on a footing of this kind. 

 The labourer, however, frequently contracts to find plants 

 and even dung. If he finds the plants alone, his share is 



