286 The Fermentation of Cacao 
ones, because the tobacco is not so liable to 
house-burn. The flue-cured tobacco requires 
only a few days for its curing. After tobacco 
has been thoroughly cured, it should be stripped 
and sorted into different grades, and after a 
certain time it should be put down in bulk for 
fermentation. Fermenting tobacco is an art, 
and the process is due to enzymes rather than 
to bacteria as was once thought. These 
enzymes are destroyed when the temperature 
of the tobacco is raised above 152° F. Before 
tobacco is placed in hogsheads it should be 
dried out so that it will contain about 11 per 
cent, moisture. Fermentation takes place 
more rapidly at a high temperature than at a 
low one. The stripping, grading and sorting 
should be done only by an expert. - The dark, ° 
heavy export tobaccos are cured in close barns 
by an open fire under the tobacco and require 
close attention during all of the stages of 
curing. It is possible to cure the tobacco a 
bright yellow or a dark mahogany by. simply 
varying the temperature, the humidity of the 
atmosphere, and the length of time in curing.” 
Mr. Charles R. Jones warns us, in the article 
he contributed to the Phzlippine Journal of 
Science, Manila, P.I. (vol. viii, Section D., 
No. 1, February, 1913, p. 27), on the tobacco 
or cigarette beetle (Laszoderma  serricorne, 
Fabr.), that with open mandalas, or fermenting 
piles (see illustration, fig. 1), where the beetles 
have free access to the leaves, they do incalcu- 
