100 THE CrLTUEE OF TdJlACCo. 



and grading of the tobacco. It has tallies arranged all around it near 

 the windows, and on these the stripping is done. The room is heated 

 bv a stove in cold weather, and has two doors, one of which opens into 

 the larger room and the other to the outside of the building. The 

 building is constructed of the very best material, is covered with 

 three coats of paint, and fitted with all the little conveniences possible. 

 The cost is about eight hundred pounds. This barn could be easily 

 used for other purpo.ses if the toliacco indu.stry sh(.uld at any time 

 fail. 



General Facts.— Each locality, and in fact, nearly every farmer, 

 has a (btferent form of curing barn, and this ditierence is based on the 

 judgment, or mis-judgment, of the individual as well as on the material 

 available and the amount of money at command. Each tobacco 

 grower should lie capable of designing his own barn, the points to be 

 borne in mind lieing that the building should be so constructed that 

 it is practically air-tight when closed, and easily ventilated ^^•hell 

 necessary. One side of the building should be facing the prevailing 

 breezes so that they may pass through the ventilators. The exception 

 to this is in the case of the flue curing barns. These should be s(.i 

 placed as to be sheltered from all winds as far as possible, for a 

 heavy wind will greatly lower the temperature on the windward side 

 of the barn and prevent an even curing. 



Each barn, whei-e air-curing is used, should be furnished with a 

 stove so that the temperature of the room as well as its humidity may 

 be I'egulated in cold or wet weather. The best method of applying beat 

 woukl be b_y means of steam confined in pipes. Such a sy.stem would 

 be expensive to in.stall l:>ut would give greater' satisfaction than any 

 other. The heat could be evenly distributed to all portions of the build- 

 ing and the tempei-ature could lie regulated to within a degi'ee. Coal 

 could be used as a fuel in the furnaces and the labour of maintaining 

 the hi'e would not be at all exacting. Electric thermometei's and 

 automatic devices could be secured for the shutting off or turning on 

 of the steam when the temperature of the room went too far in either 

 direction. One boiler plant could be established a short distame 

 away from any other building, for the generation of steam for all the 

 barns. The isolation of the boiler would reduce the risk of hre in 

 the curing buildings. The steam could be turned into the barn when- 

 ever the weather was too dry or the air too lo^- in humidity. More 

 and more it is being found that it is not wise to depend altogether 

 upon weather condilions for the curing of tobacco ; nor does it jiioducc 

 the best tobacco to go to the other extreme and cure the leaf rapiidh- 

 by means of intense heat or open tii'es. The method that gi^'es tli'e 

 highest quality of tobacco is the one where the tobacco is peiTuitted to 

 slowly cure, as long as the weather is favourable, and where heat is 

 used to regulate the comlitions when the weather is unfavourable. It 

 is not at all improbable that barns with perfect ventilation and heated 

 by steam will soon be common in the be,st cigai' leaf districts. 

 ; The tier poles should be strong enough to li,.-ar the weight of a 



I man. The usual size in America is two bx- fdur inches. The curinii- 

 sticks are seldom more than four feet long, which is the most conve- 

 nient length for handling. These sticks are aliout an inch indiamctcr; 

 often they are not square, a cross section being ublciug in form; at 

 other times they are triangular, and again one cilc-c is bcxclled. S)ili11 

 bamboo poles or canes could be ii.simI f.ii' tin's ihuihisc. 



