﻿34 BULLETIN 16, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



bright types, at which point the heat is maintained until all the stems 

 and stalks are completely killed and dried out and the cure finished. 

 Tobacco will tend to redden slightly at a temperature of 180° or 

 above. In the filler districts in the western part of the Old Belt 

 section the stems and stalks are more commonly killed out at about 

 200° ; and sometimes for the last few hours as much as 225°, or even 

 more, is maintained. These higher temperatures are thought to 

 sweeten the leaf and a reddish, rich-looking "face" is imparted, 

 known as "scorching." These excessively high temperatures, how- 

 ever, while still extensively used, may make the leaf more or less 

 brittle, which renders it objectionable for chewing purposes. 



After the cure is finished, the tobacco ordinarly should not be 

 allowed to come in high order for any length of time, especially in 

 warm weather, or reddening and perhaps worse damage from mold 

 or decay may result. On the other hand, to keep the tobacco for 

 some time in moderate warmth and moisture may be an advantage 

 in eliminating any remaining green color. 1 



In the South Carolina portion of the New Belt a large proportion 

 of the tobacco is generally sold as soon as it is cured, without either 

 assorting or tying the leaves into hands. Of course, the system of 

 priming the leaves as they ripen makes for an approximate grading, 

 since the leaves taken off at any one time would be from approxi- 

 mately the same portion of the different plants, representing the 

 bottom, middle, or top leaves, as the case might be. When sold in 

 that way the tobacco is allowed to come in soft order as soon as possi- 

 ble (generally in a day or two) after the cure is finished. The 

 leaves are removed from the strings and packed into the wagon body 

 as straight as possible, and the load is immediately taken to the ware- 

 house and sold. In other sections, however, the tobacco is more gen- 

 erally first bulked in the packing house on the sticks as it comes from 

 the curing barn, either in the shingle bulk, as is more customary in 

 the New Belt section, or in the square coop, as is more common in 

 the Old Belt section ; or it may be hung up in the packing house or 

 curing barn, the sticks being crowded closely together to keep the leaf 

 from coming into too high order, which would cause it to turn red. 

 The tobacco is then graded and tied into hands at any time con- 

 venient to the grower and sold as desired. 



Except in cool, very dry weather, tobacco will generally come into 

 order so that it can be removed from the curing barn on about the 

 second morning after the cure is finished. All the doors and ventila- 

 tors should be opened at night to let in the moist air. The web of 

 the leaf will generally become fairly soft the first night. The next 

 day the barn should be tightly closed if the weather is dry, in order 

 to retain the moisture. At night the barn again should be opened 



1 For more detailed information in regard to the process of curing tobacco, see 

 Farmers' Bulletin 523, entitled " Tobacco Curing." 



