208 



TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



greater heat. Now and then a planter, in order to cure quickly and make room for another filling, raises the heat 

 unnecessarily high to 200 or more at which high temperature a spark is all that is needed to bring sudden 

 disaster. 



Responsible companies, home and foreign, are taking risks upon tobacco-houses, along with other farm buildings, 

 but at higher rates, the average charge being 4 per cent, per annum; but for shorter time, higher rates, from 1 to 2 

 per cent, a month, are charged. 



POLE- SWEAT. 



Pole-sweat rarely occurs in the yellow belt, the mode of curing by flues or charcoal dispelling the excess of 

 moisture. The free application of heat remedies the ill-effects of overcrowding to a great extent, but at the same 

 time there is danger of scalding tobacco so crowded, darkening and deadening the leaf, making it almost worthless, 

 and entailing much loss every year. Crowded tobacco requires slower firing, at a lower temperature, and can never 

 be cured as bright as if placed far enough apart to permit free circulation of heat and air. In firing with flues or 

 with charcoal a draft is kept up as long as the leaf is green by leaving openings over the furnaces, or by making 

 vents in the walls of the house. 



In the air-curing district lack of house room induces planters to crowd the barns too full, resulting in serious 

 damage if the weather should be damp and warm during the curing season. 



MANAGEMENT OF COKED TOBACCO BEFORE STRIPPING. 



The curing process completed, tobacco is allowed to hang until both stems and stalks are thoroughly dry. 

 When in the right condition, it is either crowded close upon the main tiers or into the roof of the barn, there to 

 remain until taken down to be sold or stripped, or the tobacco is taken down, pulled from the sticks, and packed 

 away in bulk. This bulk is built upon the floor of the barn, or other suitable place, upon a bed of tobacco sticks. In 

 some instances tobacco is bulked without removing it from the sticks, but not unless it is thoroughly cured, as 

 otherwise there is serious danger of damage. It is of prime importance that yellow tobacco shall be kept from 

 light, and in a dry place, to prevent loss of color. 



MANAGEMENT OF STRIPPED TOBACCO. 



Tobacco is often damaged after the processes of curing and stripping while hanging in the barn. In long- 

 continued wet weather a fungous mold makes its appearance, mostly upon the bottom and outside tiers, especially 



in barns with defective walls or damp floors. 

 There are two kinds of mold produced by 

 excessive moisture in warm weather, com- 

 monly known as " white " and " yellow '' 

 mold, really only different stages of the 

 same disease. White mold is the iucipiency 

 of decay, and yellow mold is an evidence that 

 the tobacco is no longer fit for any grade 

 but "nondescript". The white mold, if 

 rubbed off as soon as it appears (and it 

 conies off easily if taken in time), rarely 

 leaves any disagreeable smell to the leaf; 

 but the yellow mold cannot be rubbed off, 

 and taints the leaf with an unpleasant 

 flavor. 



When sold in winter order, as is usual 

 in some districts, tobacco is bulked down 

 as it is stripped; but if it gets too " high " 

 or soft in bulk, or if it is desired to sell it 

 in shipping order, it is hung until spring, 

 when it is again put in order for prizing or 

 is bulked in good keeping order on a close 

 floor, usually of a width to accommodate 

 two courses of the kind of tobacco to be 

 packed, long, short, or lugs. In some 

 cases, if the tobacco is to be prized, it is 

 hung up to dry thoroughly, and is then 

 ordered for prizing, taken down, bulked on 



a platform 3 to 4 feet wide, laying three or four courses of bundles, and heavily weighted. 



802 



