446 THE HARVEST. 
yet care must be used to cut up the plant as soon as it is suffi- 
ciently ripe to promise a good curable condition, lest the . 
approach of frost should tread upon the heels of the crop- 
master ; for in this case, tobacco will be among the first plants 
that feel its influence, and the loss to be apprehended in this 
instance, is not a. mere partial damage by nipping, but a total 
consumption by the destruction of every plant. I find it 
difficult to give to strangers a full idea of the ripening of the 
leaf: it is a point on which I would not trust my own experi- 
ence without consulting some able crop-master in the neigh- 
borhood ; and I believe this is not an uncustomary precaution 
among those who plant it. So far as I am able to convey an 
idea, which I find it easier to understand than to express, I 
should judge of the ripening of the leaf by its thickening suffi- 
ciently ; by the change of its color toa more yellowish green ; 
by acertain mellow appearance, and protrusion of the web of 
the leaf, which I suppose to be occasioned by a contraction 
of the fibres; and other appearances as I might conceive to 
indicate an ultimate suspension of the vegetative functions.” 
After the plants have ripened the operation of cutting or 
HARVESTING | 
begins. The cutter passes from plant to plant cutting only 
CUITING THE PLANTS, 
those plants that are ripe. In harvesting a light hatchet or 
