CULTURE AND CURING IN TENNESSEE. 183 



in curing the bright tobacco, but Dr. E. G. Tuck, who first introduced flues for the curing of tobacco in Virginia, and 

 subsequently removed to the Clarksville tobacco district, was of opinion that they were not well adapted to curing 

 the rich, heavy leaf of that district, and therefore abandoned their use. A few, however, are used in Montgomery 

 county and in some of the counties of the Upper Cumberland Kiver district. They are by no means common, 

 however, in any portion of the state. 



Almost every extensive planter, in addition to his curing barns, has a stripping barn and a " prizing " room, 

 where the tobacco is pressed in hogsheads. 



CUTTING AND HARVESTING THE TOBACCO CEOP. 



There has been little change in the method of cutting and housing since tobacco began to be cultivated in the 

 state, the class of laborers employed not adapting themselves readily to new plans. 



In the state of Tennessee the tobacco harvest usually begins about the 10th of September and lasts until the 

 first week in October. Occasionally crops are cut earlier, and sometimes later. Generally, with favorable weather, 

 about six weeks intervene between topping and cutting. By that time the leaves droop, become thick, and assume 

 a yellowish mottled color. When the upper surface of the leaves is carefully examined, it has an oily, granulated 

 appearance, and when examined through a magnifying glass semi-globular excrescences are thickly distributed, with 

 depressions between them. The leaves also become more rigid, breaking easily. These are indications of maturity. 

 Cut in this condition, the tobacco-plant, when cured, will reach its maximum in weight and quality ; but if the cutting 

 be deferred a few days, rusty spots will begin to appear on the leaves, and the quality is rapidly impaired. It 

 rarely happens that all the plants in a field will ripen at the same time. To do this there must be a remarkable 

 homogeneity in the soil and a uniformity of surface exposure, and all the plants must be topped about the same 

 time. Newly-cleared land will ripen the plants several days earlier than old land originally of the same character, 

 and in general, whatever hastens the growth, whether a southern exposure, a rocky soil, which catches and retains 

 the heat of the sun, stimulating manures, or a dark soil, is calculated to bring the plant to an early development 

 and maturity. It is not considered best, however, for tobacco to mature too rapidly. In such a case it will be 

 comparatively deficient in the oils and gurns that give it strength and flavor. 



Generally the first cutting will take about half the plants in a field, and these are carefully selected, leaving 

 the unripe ones. If the number of green plants be inconsiderable, say not more than an eighth of the whole, it is 

 thought by the best planters to be profitable to cut the whole, as the time lost in going over a considerable field to 

 gather up a few plants will cost more than the difference between the matured and immatured plants is worth. As 

 the season advances and dangers from frosts are feared, planters are always disposed to cut a field clean, for a green 

 plant is greatly preferred to a frost-bitten one. When cut late, the custom is to bring the plants together and stack 

 them in what is known as "frost piles", and this must be done when the plants are cool; for if put in such piles, 

 when warmed by the sun the plants will "coddle" or scald from the heat generated. These frost piles are made 

 by setting the plants bottom side uppermost in a round pile, the leaves resting on the ground and the butts 

 sticking upward. When put into such piles properly, it will become of a bright golden color in three or four days, 

 when it may be strung upon sticks and carried immediately to the curing barn. As a general rule, however, it is 

 better, in the heavy styles of shipping tobacco, to allow the plants to stand a little too long than to cut them when 

 green, because thoroughly ripe tobacco is much heavier and sweeter. The leaf usually attains its full size in three 

 or four weeks after being topped. After this it thickens and becomes fat, under the combined influence of copious 

 cool dews and hot suns. There is as much difference between the fragrance of ripe and that of green tobacco, after 

 being cured, as between the taste of a rich, ripe, luscious peach and that of a green one. 



Three or four days, if possible, are allowed to intervene between heavy rains and the next cutting, for during 

 this time the gums washed by rains are secreted in as large quantity as ever. Nor is it the practice to cut tobacco 

 when a shower of rain is imminent, for if caught in a rain it will be bespattered with dirt and sand, which detract 

 largely from its value. Should the rain continue for a day or more after the plants are cut, the tobacco absorbs the 

 moisture and gets in a " strut", in which condition it cannot be handled without great breakage. When the dew is 

 on the leaves, it is considered injurious to cut tobacco, for when laid on the ground a considerable amount of dirt 

 will adhere, stop the pores, and prevent successful curing. Nor is it cut in the morning, even after the dew is off, 

 if the day promises to be a hot one, because it will be liable to sunburn before it can be taken to the scaffold or the 

 barn. The most approved time for cutting tobacco is in the afternoon, when the rays of the declining sun have been 

 tempered sufficiently to prevent sunburn, but not enough to keep the plants from wilting properly, from three 

 to four o'clock being the best time. 



The instrument employed for cutting tobacco is a butcher-knife of medium size, with a thin and sharp blaide of 

 about six inches in length. The handle of the knife is wrapped with old rags, in order to relieve the pressure 

 on the hand. The person who cuts stands over the plant, places the blade of the knife nearly at right angles to the 

 two upper leaves, and splits the stalk from the top to within a few inches of the lower leaves. Withdrawing the 

 knife and grasping the plant with the left hand, he bends it slightly from him and severs the stalk an inch or two 

 below the lowest leaves. The plant is then inverted and set up in the middle of the row, or over the stub, care 



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