406 TOBACCO SHEDS. 
employed for “firing” the tobacco in the sheds. Formerly, 
the tobacco sheds at the South looked more like the rude 
huts of the herders on the pampas of South America, than 
buildings devoted to the curing of tobacco. Tobacco barns 
OLD CONNECTICUT TOBACCO SHED. 
and sheds are built of a great variety of material, and in 
various ways, according to the manner of building where the 
tobacco is grown. Thus in the Connecticut valley, such 
sheds or barns are large and commodious frame buildings; 
at the South and West, many of them are built of logs; in 
Cuba, of slabs covered with palm leaves or thatched. In 
Turkey, of stones; covered with rough boards, and daubed 
- with mud. 
In selecting a site for the tobacco shed, not only should its 
proximity to the tobacco field be considered, but also the 
ground on which it is to be built. It should always be 
erected on dry ground, rather than upon moist, so that 
no dampness may arise and injure the leaves in curing. The 
tobacco shed should also be built on an elevated spot, so that 
a free circulation of air may be had, which is hardly possible 
if built on low ground or among trees or in the woods as at 
the South. This applies more particularly to sheds where 
