452 CURING. 
D’Almirda says that in Java, the leaves are gathered and 
tied up in bundles of fifteen, twenty or thirty, and suspended 
from bamboo poles running across the interior of the shed, 
where they are left to dry for twenty days or more, accord- 
ing to the state of the atmosphere. 
As soon as the plants have been hung in the shed the 
process of 
CURING 
begins. If fully ripe at the time of harvesting, the plants 
will “cure down” very fast and take on a better hue than 
when they cure less rapidly. During cool weather the doors 
and ventilators should be left open that the plants may have 
a free circulation of air and cure the faster. When, however, 
the weather is damp, they should be closed, to avoid sweat- 
ing and pole rot. When a light leaf is desired, the tobacco 
shed should be provided with windows to let in plenty of. 
sunlight, which has much to do with the color of the leaf. 
When a dark leaf is desired, all light should be excluded. 
The time necessary for the curing of the plants will 
depend upon the ripeness of the plants as well as the weather 
during curing. There are three kinds or methods of curing, 
viz: air curing, sun curing and firing, or curing by flues. 
Air curing is the curing of the plants in sheds or barns. 
Sun curing is the process of curing in the open air, while 
“ firing’ is the process of curing by “smoke,” the common 
method employed at the South and to some extent at the West. 
This is the common way of curing cutting leaf, while air 
curing is the manner of curing cigar leaf. Tatham, already 
quoted, gives the following account of the process as per- 
formed in Virginia of 
“SMOKING THE CROP.” 
“From what has been said under the head of hanging the 
plant, it will be perceived that the air is the principal agent 
in. curing it, but it. must be also considered that a want‘ of 
uniform temperature in the atmosphere calls for the constant. 
care of the crop-master, who generally indeed ; becomes, 
