186 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Many planters prefer to take down their tobacco only as they strip and assort it, because the leaves, not having 

 been compacted in a bulk, are much more easily examined, and less time is required in separating the various grades. 

 The chief advantages of having tobacco in bulk are : 



1. That it is always in condition, and gives employment in bad weather oftentimes when that left hanging in the 

 barn is not in proper condition. 



2. If taken down in a good season, and in right case, it need not be hung up again. 



3. That it suffers no damage from high winds, and from the frequency with which it will go out of and come 

 in "case", if left hanging in the barns. 



Supposing the tobacco to have been taken down in proper condition for handling without breakage, it is put 

 upon a platform and every leaf is carefully scrutinized, and all the imperfect, much injured, and badly worm-eaten and 

 sunburned leaves are taken first from the stalk and tied by themselves. These constitute planters' lugs. In the 

 vocabulary of tobacco dealers, all the product except lugs is termed "leaf". The leaves which are but slightly 

 eaten or injured make what is called low leaf, or seconds, which are kept separate from the lugs, the remaining 

 leaves being termed good. There are various grades of good, viz.: Medium, which may be short, or poor, or of bad 

 color; good leaf, which may be long and poor, or short and rich, or of excellent color without being either long or 

 very rich ; fine leaf, which has nearly all the desirable qualities, lacking in only one or two ; selections, which 

 combine all the qualities of length, richness, good color, small stem and fine fiber, silkiness, body, elasticity, 

 gum, and fatness. The basic idea in assorting is that there shall be a uniformity in length, color, and quality, and 

 this uniformity should be preserved in all the leaves which enter a bundle, and the bundles themselves should be 

 classified in the same manner. 



In stripping tobacco, the leaves are pulled from the stalks and tied in bundles. The size of the bundles is 

 considered a very important matter. If the tobacco is to be sold loose to a dealer for the purpose of stemming, the 

 usual practice is to tie into hands as large as one's arm, or even larger ; but if the tobacco is to be packed and pressed 

 into hogsheads and offered for sale by samples after inspection, the bundles are made to contain not more than five 

 or six lea.ves. In the management of this peculiar type of tobacco neatness in tying the hands is considered of 

 prime importance. A rough, shabby tie will injure the sale 10 per cent. The leaf selected to tie with is usually 

 small. This is smoothed out at the tail and doubled over, so as to make a band an inch wide. This band, with 

 the stem downward, is wrapped tightly around the head of the stems, and is then tucked between the leaves. 

 Careful handlers pass each bundle through the hands as it is tied, so as to press the leaves together. It is then 

 laid back in its proper place on the stripping pile. If the tobacco is in proper order for packing in hogsheads, it 

 may be put in immediately; but the more common way is to bulk- it down. 



Tobacco for bulking having been laid in piles before the platform, is taken up, two bundles at a time, and 

 passed through a succession of hands, each person through whose hands it passes straightening, pulling, and 

 squeezing the bundles from the heads to the tails, so as to make a cylindrical roll, the last person passing the 

 bundles to the bulker, who lays them down side by side, keeping the heads in contact a-uJ. even with the outer 

 edge of the platform and the tails drawn closely together, pointing to the middle of the platform. A similar 

 course is run on the other side of the platform; then two courses in the center, the heads of the bundles resting 

 midway the first and second courses and tails overlapping in the center. These four courses form the first layer 

 of the bulk, and this operation is continued until the bulk is finished. The bulker, on his knees, packs before him, 

 keeping the bundles laid flat and pulled up closely meanwhile with his right hand and forefinger, placing the 

 leaves of each two bundles, as he puts them down, separate, and not suffering them to spread out, fan-like, over 

 the other bundles. The bulk is thus built up like a solid wall of masonry. Sometimes the center of the bulk 

 builds up too rapidly; then one of the middle courses is left out. It is very necessary to keep the top of the bulk 

 level, as otherwise, when the tobacco is taken up, the bundles will be bent. When finished, it is covered and 

 weighted. 



There are two ways in which tobacco is packed in hogsheads, both of which have their advocates among good 



planters. One of these, called the "square pack", is made by running two courses 

 across the bottom of the hogshead, the heads of the central bundles in a course being 

 about eight inches from the staves, as indicated in the accompanying diagram. 



A course is run from A to B, the bundles being placed at right angles to this 

 line, and a second is run from D to C, the tails of the bundles overlapping the 

 first course. The third course will cross these at right angles, the heads of the bundles 

 resting on a line drawn from A to C. The heads of the bundles, forming a fourth 

 course, will rest on a line drawn.from B to D, and overlapping the third course. In 

 every case the courses must be run out to fill the round of the hogshead. These four 

 courses are called a layer. 



The second method of packing is to run two courses, as in the first instance, and 

 then two more with the bundles in the same direction as in the first two, but witk 

 the heads jammed against the rounds of the hogshead, as shown in the diagram on page 187. 



780 



