128 THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO. 



<if the leaf may be so dry that it will easily crumble, and at the same 

 time the stemj while apparently dry, will contain enough moisture to 

 fui-nish food for the growth of numld. 



In every tobacco market there are certain men who make a 

 business of " re-ordering " tobacco and packing it for shipment. The 

 manager of a re-ordering plant may also be a leaf dealer, or he may 

 only handle tobacco for leaf dealers. Several methods of bringing 

 the" tobacco leaf into the proper condition are practised. The first 

 and oldest method is where the tobacco is hung on racks in large 

 rooms and brought into condition hy protracted hanging and a 

 proper regulation of the ventilation. The tobacco is first allowed to 

 become so dry that the stem will snap between the fingers, then the 

 windows are opened on some moist day, and the leaf permitted to 

 absoi-b just enough moisture to keep it from breaking when handled, 

 or until the fibre of the leaf becomes pliable while the stem is still 

 dry enough to break. It is then in condition to pack. If it is desired 

 to pack the tobacco when the weather is very dry, it may be con- 

 ditioned by being hung for a few minutes in a box filled with hot 

 steam. This system of " aii- ordering " the tobacco calls for the use <>f 

 a large building, as well as the tying up for a long time of the capital 

 invested in the tobacco. This, in addition to the insurance, will in the 

 end make this method more expensive and less satisfactory than any 

 other method. 



In the second method the racks are built on trucks, and these 

 trucks run into a .steam-heated room and the tobacco kept there at a 

 temperature of from 1.^)0° to 160° until it will crumble in the hand. 

 It is then conditioned by jets of steam turned into the I'oom, and is 

 packed in hogsheads while still hot. These rooms are fitted with 

 steam fans, so that the hot air and the steam are evenly distributed. 

 This method is perhaps the best one to adopt where quantities 

 less than two or three hundred thousand pounds are racked 

 annually. 



The third method, which is called "machine ordering," is the one 

 generally used where large cjuantities of tobacco are handled. At cne 

 end of the machine the tobacco is placed on an endless wire lielt that 

 carries it through the diffei'ent compartments and finally delivers it 

 to the packei-s. 



The tobacco is first carried thi'ough two very hot steam-heated 

 chambers to place it in a thoroughly diy condition. The first chamliei' 

 is not heated as hot as the second, for the reason that it might 

 cook the tobacco which contains some moisture. The second chambei- 

 is heated to 160°. From the second chambei' the tobacco passes into 

 a thiid wdiere it is partially cooled by a current of air, and then into 

 a fourth where it is by the use of steam made pliable enough to 

 handle. As soon as the tobacco comes out of the end of the machine 

 it is packed in hogsheads while still soft. When the t<_)bacco is 

 packed it mu.st be moist enough to handle without breaking, and yet 

 contain so little moisture that it will ajipear perfecth" dry when cold. 

 A machine has a capacity of from fifteen to twenty tlnjusand pounds 

 of tobacco a day and has this merit, that within an hour after a 

 tobacco has been brought into the building it may lie packed and 

 shippjed. The use of a machine makes it possible to do the work in a 

 building but very little larger than the machine. An ec|uipment of 

 this kind, e-xclusive of the building and engine, costs aliout foui 

 hundred pounds in America. 



