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TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



being taken not to let any of the leaves be perforated by the stub. Tn this condition it stands until it wilts, which 

 on a warm day, with tobacco of medium size, will require half an hour. 



The management of the plants after they wilt varies with different planters, but the most common course is to 

 put them in piles of six or eight, or as many as may be deemed sufficient to put on a stick. These piles are made 



with the heails of the plants turned toward the 

 sun, and the tails of the leaves carefully tucked 

 under. The plants of two rows are put in one 

 row of piles, and the pile rows are arranged in 

 groups of two; that is to say, the plants from 

 four rows are piled on the two central rows. 

 This leaves room for a wagon to pass without 

 danger of running over the piles, and facilitates 

 the dropping of the sticks, one of which is put beside each pile. The next thing is to hang or straddle the tobacco 

 over the sticks. For this purpose the stick is set firmly in the ground at an angle of about 45 degrees with the 

 surface of the ground, the stick leaning away from the sun. The plants are now taken, one by one, and straddled 

 over the stick, with heads toward the sun. The subjoined engraving will illustrate what has been described. 



When all the plants are strung, careful planters tuck the tails of the loaves under them. The tobacco is now 

 ready to go to the scaffold or the barn. If the tobacco is very heavy, and the barns are at an inconvenient distance 

 from the fields, planters usually prefer to scaffold until the tobacco is lightened by evaporation and dessication, 

 when ranch larger loads may be carried and a large amount of labor saved. When tobacco is to be air-cured, 

 the scaffold is almost always employed for a week or more. If the weather foreshadows rain, it is desirable that 

 the tobacco be put under shelter as soon as possible. The points of practice are: 1. To keep the rain from 

 catching it while on the ground after it is cut ; 2. To keep it from being caught by rains while on the sticks ; and 

 3. To keep it free from rain while on the scaffolds. The amount of damage which the tobacco will sustain by rains 

 will be very great in the first case, less in the second, and least of all in the third. 



Some farmers prefer to carry the plants directly to the barn when they are well wilted and before they are 

 hung, and in such cases it has been found convenient to carry them in low sleds, when they are immediately hung 



up. Two sleds are usually employed, and a part of the 

 force is kept busy loading one sled in the field, while the 

 other part is engaged in hanging the tobacco from the sled 

 in the barn. Scaffolds are built with poles four or five 

 inches through and as long as they can be conveniently 

 handled. These are supported four feet above the ground 

 by forks at one end, the other resting upon the bed pole, 

 which is placed at right angles to the tier poles. One end 

 of this is usually placed on a high stump, or on the corner 

 of a fence, and the other supported by stout forks. 



When first put upon scaffolds, the usual plan is to 

 crowd the sticks together, for tobacco soon wilts and 

 lightens by evaporation, so that there is ample space between the sticks for the circulation of air. In from 

 three to five days it is carried to the barns and arranged upon the tier poles, the sticks being placed six inches 

 apart. 



When tobacco is carried directly from the field to the barns without scaffolding, more space is required upon 

 the tier poles, or there will be danger from pole-sweat. Each stick then occupies a space of eight inches. When 

 carried to the barn on sticks, a long frame is frequently employed, four feet deep, four feet wide, and open on the 

 sides, and the tobacco is placed on the frame in the same manner as that in wtiich it is put on the tier poles, only 

 it is crowded as closely as possible. The saving in hauling is about one-third when the tobacco has been on a 

 scaffold for a few days. Many farmers haul on an ordinary wagon body, or on one made for hauling wood, a few 

 planks being put in the bottom, and the tobacco being laid flat, in "coops", the sticks being placed parallel witli 

 the frame of the wagon. These are laid right and left, with the butts of the tobacco out and tails overlapping in 

 the middle, and is piled up in two or three " coops " to the height of four or five feet, the " coops " being supported 

 by long standards on the sides of the frame. This method of hauling tobacco is objectionable because the lower 

 plants are liable to bruise by the superincumbent weight. It is considered a fair day's work for one hand to cut 

 and house one hundred sticks. 



CUEING TOBACCO. 



At one time in the Clarksville region great efforts were made to cure the crop dark, and for this purpose fires 

 were kindled under the tobacco as soon as it was taken to the barn from the field, without waiting for it to yellow 

 or even to wilt well. The consequence was the production of a bluish color, answering the purposes of no market, 

 and classed as nondescript. 



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