CULTURE AND CURING IN VIRGINIA. 209 



Shipping tobacco is generally hung up to dry out after being stripped and reordered before bulking for 

 prizing. Manufacturing is largely sold loose, and most of this type is bulked as stripped, and either sold in "winter 

 order" or hung up again and ordered to keep until sold. The safest way to bulk tobacco when stripped in winter 

 or early spring is to " tail down " two rows with heads outward, tails slightly lapping. 



In Henry county stripped tobacco is sometimes bulked down as stripped, but the general practice is to hang 

 up. If bulked down, it is packed in parallelograms 5 by 10 feet, putting the darkest tobacco at the bottom, fine in 

 the middle, and lugs on top. 



A machine for straightening tobacco, invented by a citizen of Albemarlc county, has been used to great 

 advantage, This machine consists of a bench, supporting at its middle an iron frame containing two iron cylinders, 

 working upon each other by cogs, with a crank handle fixed on one end of the lower cylinder. In each cylinder are 

 four grooves an inch or more in width, completely filled with gutta-percha; also an iron funnel or hopper, with four 

 partitions, through which the bundles of tobacco to be straightened are fed to the rolls, the bundles being delivered 

 from the rolls perfectly straightened and flattened out. This machine saves much labor in bulking and rebuilding 

 tobacco, the only objectionable feature being the liability of the gutta-percha filling to wear out too quickly, and the 

 consequent difficulty and expense of replacing it. (See illustration on page 208.) 



Tobacco usually remains in bulk at least four weeks in the shipping district, where most of the product is 

 bulked. In the yellow district much the larger part of the crop is sold loose, and it is bulked only for the purpose 

 of keeping it in order for ready sale, as convenience, necessity, or interest may prompt. 



BEST SEASON FOE, PRIZING TOBACCO. 



The summer mouths are best and safest for prizing tobacco; for then the warmth liquefies the vegetable oil in the 

 leaf and it comes into " order" a supple, pliant condition without absorbing much moisture. Some of the very 

 best "ordering" seasons come without a drop of rain, and a. warm, humid south wind, condensing moisture upon the 

 colder rocks during the night or early morning, brings an excellent ordering season, experienced planters, when 

 they see the " rocks sweating", accepting it as a sign of a favorable time to take down their tobacco. A " coming" 

 season is better than a " going out " season. The condition of the tobacco indicates to the practiced eye at a glance 

 the one or the other, as in a "coming" or "quick" season the leaf is pliant, while the stem is dry and brittle, but in a 

 " going out " or protracted season the tobacco shows that moisture has been absorbed by the stems, which are as 

 pliant as the leaves. As it is important that the leaf should be pliant and the stem dry enough to crack full half 

 way from tlie large end to be in safe order, the tobacco should be watched and taken down in that condition. Any 

 slight moisture will then be absorbed by the drier stems, and fermentation in bulk or in the package be impossible. 



If there are moisture and heat enough in the atmosphere, tobacco bulked or prized will go into "sweat". 

 Thoroughly dry tobacco never sweats ; nor can sweat be induced without heat. Some heat is developed in sweating, 

 and if this is only to a slight degree the bulk will "sweat sweet"; if the heat is excessive, the tobacco is either 

 ruined or greatly damaged. The duration of the sweating process depends upon the condition of the tobacco when 

 bulked or packed, the temperature, and the type. Tobacco remaining in bulk through a second summer undergoes 

 the same process of sweating, but to a less extent. 



PREPARATION OF TOBACCO FOR MARKET. 



When stripped from the stalk, tobacco is assorted into three grades : lugs, short leaf, and long leaf. It is then 

 tied into bundles of from five to eight leaves of the better grades and eight to twelve leaves of lugs, bulked down 

 and heavily weighted, is often rebulked twice, and finally it is prized into hogsheads, to weigh from 1,000 to 1,500 

 pounds of shipping or 700 to 1,000 pounds of manufacturing. In some counties a large proportion of the crop is 

 taken to market loose. 



Much attention is given by successful growers to the stripping, assorting, and packing processes; and it is not 

 unusual to find bulks of tobacco in some of the finest dwellings in the region where the best grades of bright 

 tobacco are produced. 



The product of Albemarle, Amelia, Buckingham, a portion of Appomattox, Cumberland, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, 

 Lunenbnrg, Hanover, Caroline, and some other counties, when prized for shipment, is mostly sold in Richmond; 

 .that of Amherst, Bedford, a considerable part of Appomattox, and the shipping tobacco of the Valley and Blue 

 Fudge counties, is marketed at Lynchburg. A large part of the crop is sold loose in the various market towns of 

 the sections in which it is raised, and finds its way thence either to the manufacturers or to the large markets, 

 where it is assorted and prized for shipment. Of Henry county tobacco, about one-half is manufactured in the 

 county and the remainder is marketed at Danville. 



Tobacco hogsheads are about 54 inches in length, and from 38 to 44 inches across the head, and the price varies, 

 according tc the cost of lumber, from $1 25 to $2. 



Half-hogsheads and tierces are more used in the yellow district. These are of all sizes, holding from 300 tc 

 800 pounds, the cost varying with the size, material, and workmanship. 803 



