unit. Heat, conducted by flues, is provided by an oil 

 furnace. Curing by this process can be completed in 

 a week or less. 



R 



rom barn to buyer 



After the tobacco has been thoroughly cured and 

 dried, it is removed from the barn and bulked. This 

 involves stripping tlie leaves from the stalk and sorting 

 them into tlie different leaf types according to their 

 position on the plant. Leaves on the stalk, from the 

 bottom of the stem up, are called flyings, lugs, leaf and 

 tips. They are separated and tied into small bundles 

 or "hands" for market. 



B 



id and take 



Cured tobacco is a commodity that must be marketed 

 promptly. It is a delicate article of commerce, liable to 

 spoilage under unfavorable weather conditions. Usually 

 the "hands" are trucked to auction warehouses. A small 

 percent of dark tobacco is not sold at auction, but 

 instead is marketed directly by the farmers at their' barn 

 doors. The vast majority of Tennessee tobacco, though, 

 is auctioned off at 20 markets in more than 100 ware- 

 houses throughout the state beginning in late fall and 

 continuing through the early part of winter. 



T 



ennessee overseas 



A good deal of the tobacco grown in Tennessee i: 

 exported to foreign buyers. It is shipped as unmanufac 



11 



