474 TOBACCO PRODUCTION 



fires are then kept up until the curing is practically completed. 

 There is danger in curing too quickly. Some of the more careful 

 growers fire for ten days. 



Sometimes, after about a week's firing, the tobacco is allowed to 

 feweat, when slow fires are added for a few days. Hickory and oak 

 wood are preferable. 



Flue-curing. Yellow tobacco is cured at a higher temperature 

 than the types mentioned. The barn has close walls. If they are of 

 log the cracks are chinked and daubed or stopped with cement. A 

 ventilator is provided at the top. Furnaces are built on one side 

 and pipes lead from these across the house and then back and pass 

 through the wall a few feet higher than the level at which they 

 left the furnace. A vertical pipe carries the smoke off. 



The tobacco is allowed to wilt to the right stage and is then hung 

 in the house. The first tier of poles is pretty high off the ground, 

 nine feet being a common height. The barn should be filled in 

 one day and a thermometer hung about the center of the barn on the 

 lower tier. A moderate fire is started and maintained until the leaf 

 is thoroughly yellowed, which usually takes twenty-four to thirty- 

 six hours. During this process the barn is kept tight. A tempera- 

 ture of from 80 to 120 F. is maintained, beginning at the lower 

 temperature and running up to the higher. The next thing to do is to 

 remove moisture, which is the most critical part of the curing. A 

 temperature of from 130 to 140 F. is' maintained until the leaf is 

 dry. Close attention has to be paid to the ventilation to keep the 

 moisture just right. After the moisture is gone the ventilators are 

 closed down and the temperature is run up to 165 to 170 F. at the 

 rate of about five degrees an hour. This temperature is maintained 

 until all stems are dry (Fig. 202). 



Stripping, Sorting, and Tying. After tobacco is cured it is 

 let hang until the conditions get right for the absorption of moisture, 

 when the leaves become pliable and may be handled without break- 

 ing. Some growers have a damping cellar where some of the tobacco 

 can be hung to come in the right order for handling. During cold 

 weather tobacco may be bulked down and covered after it gets in 

 the proper condition for handling and kept that way for some time. 

 During bulking tobacco may improve in quality. 



