THECUBAREVIEW 25 



harvested. In this way, of course, the stalks are left standing in the field. These are 

 immediately cut down to within about six inches of the ground, the idea being to 

 compel the plant to throw out suckers from its base. This occurs also with the 

 plants harvested by the other method. In some cases the field is hoed over, dirt is 

 again draAvn to the young suckers, these are topped, and the same attention given 

 them that was given the main crop, and later these are harvested, furnishing quite a 

 quantity of a lighter grade smaller leaved tobacco of good quality and very accept- 

 able for making small cigars. After this growth of suckers has been cut, still another 

 growth springs out from the old plants, but it is the custom here in Cuba to allow 

 tliese to remain in the field. They develop, throwing out from their tops a fine launch 

 of flowers, under which are formed seed capsules, each containing thousands of very 

 small seeds. These are allowed to ripen, the plants are then cut, hung up to dry 

 and later on the seed heads broken up and sifted, the hull of the seed capsules being 

 removed, leaving the clean seed. It is the custom in nearly all localities in Cuba 

 for the women and children in the toliacco plantations to strip from the stems of 

 these seed-bearing suckers the small leaves which are borne by them, these being- 

 festooned on cords and dried on the walls of the native huts, tobacco barns, etc., and 

 later made into packs and sold for cigarette-making purposes. These are known to 

 tlie trade as "seed leaves" or "hojas de semilla." At the first cutting of the crop it 

 is customary to leave one or two, sometimes three,, of the small lower leaves of the 

 plant on the small piece of stalk that is left in the field, these leaves having been 

 injured and their value much reduced by their contact with water and soil, and it 

 is the custom that these leaves are gathered also by the women and children, dried 

 as are the seed leaves just described, and utilized later on for cigarette purposes. 

 These leaves are known as "foot leaves," or "libras de pie." 



The method of treatment after harvesting depends entirely upon the manner in 

 which the tobacco has been cut. If by the ordinary method, in Avhich, as we have 

 indicated, the stalk is cut into various small pieces each with two or three leaves at-- 

 tached, these pieces are gathered together and are hung over poles about 5i/^ yards 

 long, one of the leaves, of course the lower one on the piece, being placed over the pole, 

 thus acting as a hook. The pieces are spaced almost in contact on the poles. If, 

 however, the tobacco is gathered leaf by leaf, as in the case of the higher class wrap- 

 pers, a thread is passed through the mid rib of each leaf close to its base and the 

 resulting strings of leaves are hung on poles of the same length as used in the other 

 method, each alternate leaf being on opposite sides of the pole. In some of the most 

 modern barns, however, instead of using the long pole just described, short ones about 

 one foot long are used, they being found more convenient in the treatment of the 

 tobacco in the curing barns. 



The curing barns of Cuba are as a usual thing cheap structures in whicli the 

 principal timbers are round timbers taken direct from the forest and covered both 

 roof and sides with the leaves of either the royal palm or of the palmetto palm. These 

 barns are constructed usually in such a manner as to be composed of two sets of 

 I'ooms, one on each side of a central hall. The rooms themselves vary in width, Init 

 are about 4% yards long, and l:)etween each two rooms there is a passage way left in 

 which the workmen can have access to the horizontal timbers on which the ends of 

 the poles containing the toljacco leaves are hung. When, the tobacco has been cut and 

 placed upon the poles, these are usually taken immediately to the tobacco barn and 

 hung upon the timbers just mentioned, sufficient space being left between them so 

 that the leaves do not touch. The same thing is done, of course, with the poles con- 

 taining the leaves gathered leaf by leaf and also Avith the shorter poles which we 

 have described. It does not take long for the tobacco in these tobacco barns to begin 

 drying, turning gradually from the original green color to a more or less dark yellow 

 or brown, depending upon the quality and class of tobacco. As the drying process pro- 

 ceeds, the careful tobacco grower will see that the poles are gradually raised to higher 



