1 8 



(4) It is possible to harvest all the tobacco leaves 



at the right stage of maturity and so 

 the tobacco can be cured with greater uni- 

 formity than when the leaves are harvested 

 with the stalk. 



(5) In cases where fuel is required a less quantity 



will be necessary, and the risk of setting 

 fire to the barn will be greatly lessened. 



(6) Although the handling of leaves separately 



entails more labour than harvesting with 

 the whole stalk, yet the great part of it is of 

 such a nature that it can be profitably done 

 by children, and at various times during 

 the season. 



Besides the questions of expense, labour, space, 

 etc., the two processes also give rise to difference in the 

 character of the cured product. The leaves and the 

 stalks remain alive after harvesting as long as they retain 

 sufficient moisture, by means of the reserve food supply 

 which has been stored up. The miter edges of the leaf 

 are first killed by loss of moisture, and the unused por- 

 tion of the food supply is withdrawn towards the midrib, 

 which is the last part of the leaf to die. When the leaves 

 are picked from the stalk, of course this transfer of the 

 food materials can get no further than the midrib of the 

 leaf ; but when the leaf remains attached to the stalk the 

 food materials pass into the stalk to keep this alive, ( >n 

 account of the water contained in the stalk, which gra- 

 dually passes into the leaf to replace that lost bv e\ apora- 

 tion, the leaf also under these conditions remains alive 

 for a much longer period than when separated from the 

 stalk, and itself uses up more of its accumulated food, 



