■THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 87 



tli(.iusand ; and cjf the oiJiuai y fillers fiom ten to thiity thousand. 

 The gi-eatei- the fermentation desired the greater the percentage of 

 moisture that the leaf is allowed to retain when bulked. The 

 wrapper's, therefore, are in a somewhat dryer condition than the fiUei's. 

 These bulks may be from four to five feet wide, from four to eight 

 feet high, and of any length. The length and the number of pounds 

 placed in a bulk is limited somewhat by the labour at the disposal of 

 the fernienter, fiir often, when the temperatuie is lising lapidly, the 

 bulk must be taken down and rebuilt in a very shoit time, and it 

 takes a considerable nunibei' of persons to properly handle, say, thirty 

 thousand pounds of cigar leaf. No pressure beyond the weight of the 

 tobacco is applied to the bulk, for it is desired that there be some 

 space for the movement of air and the escape of the products of 

 fermentation. The bulk is not built directly on the floor, but is 

 placed on a platform raised a few inches above the flooi'. This plat- 

 form is covered with a layer of wrapping paper. The butts of the 

 tobacco are placed toward the outside of the bulk and the tips towaid 

 the centre. The first row is laid with the butts even with the edge 

 of the bulk, the second row is placed so that the butts re.st on about 

 one-thiid of the tip end of the first row, and so on with the third row. 

 Three rows in from each side, oi' six rows in all, is all that the ordinary 

 bulk will I'equire. The process is repeated until the bulk has reached 

 the desired height. Where fine wrapper leaf is lieing bulked, strips 

 of wrapping paper are often placed under the butts of each row so as 

 to prevent irrjury to the leaf under it. When the bulk is completed 

 it is covered with canvas, blankets, or rubber- sheeting. 



The temperature will begin to rise in a short time and will con- 

 tinue to increase at the rate of from five to fifteen degrees per day, 

 depending on the percentage of moistur-e pr-esent, until the tempei-a- 

 tui-e of the pile reaches 130^, when the bulk must be brnkeii down arrd 

 rebuilt. 



In building the new bulk the tops and sides of the old bulk 

 should form the centre of the new. Each "hand" should be given a 

 shake as passed over to free it from any of the objectional products of 

 fer-rnentation, and lessen liability to rot and mould. The temperature 

 of the tobacco will be lowered in handling to about the temperature 

 of the room. The bulk will again heat up, but not so rapidly perhaps 

 as the first Ijulk. In eight to twelve days the ther'morrreter will iir- 

 dicate that the pile has reached a heat of 125" or 130^, or' that perhaps 

 it has ceased to r'ise in temper-ature and r'ernains stationary. In either 

 case the bulk is to be rebuilt. 



This process of rebulking may have to be repeated six or eight 

 tiirres, or until the best aronra possible is obtained. If the process be 

 Cirrried too far', the desirable products obtained in the earlier' fermen- 

 tation may be destroyed arrcl the tobacco left about as valuable for 

 srrroking pirrposes as old rags or' paper. The lighter coloured wrappers 

 rrrust not be heated as highlj', or fermented as long as they woirld 

 stand, or as much as might be desirable from the standpoint of aroma, 

 foi' their chief value lies in their colour, and this mu.st be preserved. 



If the tobacco be too moist in the bulk, as will be indicated by its 

 " sogginess " or' a very rapid rise in temperature, it must be rebulked 

 rrrore often than otherwise and in the rebulking should be handled in 

 a dr'y room, which will deprive it of a por'tion of its moisture. 



If the tobacco be found to lie so dry in the birlk that fermentatioir 

 ceases or is retar'ded, this defect may be corr'ected bv handling it in a 



