CULTURE AND CURING IN PENNSYLVANIA. 15T 



the floor to the eaves, across a space of 12 feet, each one actiiig independently. The slatted openings along the 

 roof, and those in the cupolas, give a draught, which insures a steady supply of fresh air, and will prevent any 

 damage to the tobacco near the roof. The patent levers work so easily that a boy can work them, closing all the 

 openings in one section at a single operation. At one end of the building arrangements have been made for a corn- 

 crib, which, however, can at any time be utilized for tobacco-curing purposes. The building is somewhat embellished 

 with ornamental work, and the outside has received three coats of paint. The cost of this barn was $4,000. 



Barn No. 2, while it combines most of the features of No. 1, is not so well ventilated, having no ventilation in 

 the roof proper, but only through the slatted cupolas. It is less elaborate throughout in its appointments, and 

 cost about $1,500. Barn No. 1 combines in itself every valuable feature so far developed among the planters of 

 Lancaster county as successful aids to tobacco culture and curing. 



The tobacco-growers have not yet secured the best ventilation possible in their tobacco-barns. The plan of 

 admitting the air through the horizontal openings is almost universally adopted, but every one who studies the 

 principles of ventilation must see that unless some means are provided at the apex of the roof for the escape or 

 the heated air the circulation throughout the building must needs be imperfect. Of late a modification of this 

 plan has beeu introduced, which promises better results. But two openings are provided on the sides of the 

 building, one at the floor and the other at the eaves, but these openings are three or more feet wide, and admit 

 a large volume of air, which the opening at the eaves at once induces to rise and escape at that point. A series of 

 slatted openings along the comb of the roof will divert a portion of the current in that direction, and a better 

 ventilation than by the more numerous narrow openings would seem to be assured. 



It is possible to secure better and more satisfactory results by another method, as yet untried by growers. By 

 admission of a current of air directly beneath the hanging tobacco, instead of at the sides, this could easily be- 

 done. With the cellar so far out of the ground as to admit of windows several feet high on every side the floor 

 above could be provided with numerous trap-doors, instead of the one or two now allowed, while ventilators could 

 be placed in sufficient numbers at regular intervals upon the roof, running from the eaves to the comb ; or, instead 

 of trap-doors in the floor, the floor might be laid with strips a few inches wide, with open spaces of equal 

 width between. When the cellar windows are thrown open the air from without would enter, pass directly beneath 

 every plant in the barn, rise through every tier, and make its escape at the openings in the roof. There being no* 

 openings at the sides, there would be nothing to interfere with the ascent of a steady current. By the present 

 system the outside air is driven against the sides of the outer leaves, instead of coming into contact with each one 

 of them, as it should do, to secure uniform curing and color throughout the whole crop. This would also prevent 

 the beating in of rain, as sometimes happens, or the ingress of heavy winds to break the dry leaves. 



MARKETING THE CEOP. 



It is only wlien growers are unable to sell the crop at what they believe it to be worth that they pack it in eases- 

 themselves. The planters prefer to be clear of the old crop before they begin with the new, and probably not one case 

 out of every hundred raised is packed by the growers. There is no particular time for the purchasing season ta 

 begin. Buying is done altogether by sample. Farmers take advantage of favorable weather at any time after 

 October to prepare their goods for market. Buyers begin their operations generally in November, but often not 

 until December. They congregate in Lancaster, thirty and forty at one time, and come from all parts of the 

 country : from Baltimore, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, but principally from New York. There is 

 beside, a large number of local buyers and packers, aud during the season these men visit every out-of-the-way nook 

 and corner and search out every lot of tobacco in the county. Many packing-houses send their agents to spy out 

 the ground while- the tobacco is still in the fields and mark choice lots. If the price is agreed upon, a contract in 

 duplicate is drawn up, the buyer retaining a copy aud the grower receiving the other. At the time specified, or, if 

 none is specified, when the grower is ready to deliver the crop, it is taken to the packing-house of the purchaser 

 and done up in bales of varying sizes, generally of 100 pounds' weight, and it is there weighed and paid for on the 

 spot. Occasionally, however, the packers do not wait until the crop is stripped before they begin purchasing. If 

 the crop is a very desirable one, they begin operations before the farmers are ready to sell, or before their tobacco- 

 is ready for the market. This was notably the case in 1879, when the season opened before the growers had com- 

 menced to strip, and while the tobacco still hung in the barns. It was examined while still on the poles, aud much 

 of it was bought in that condition. This method does not always result satisfactorily. Sometimes the buyer is- 

 deceived by the crop as it hangs in the barn and offers more for it than it afterward proves to be worth, in which 

 case there is likely to be dissatisfaction and dispute. The planters, as a rule, prefer to sell their crops after they 

 are stripped and fully ready for the market. 



PACKING TOBACCO. 



There are upward of fifty firms engaged in packing stationed at Lancaster, or with agents there to represent 

 them. The cost of buying, receiving, assorting, rasing, and storing tobacco, including the cases themselves, may 



bo put down at from IfJ to 2 cents per pound. The, *liooks for the cases come from the pine regions of Michigan, 



7r>i 



