TOBACCO SHRINKAGE AND LOSSES IN WEIGHT yj 



cent for export order. Storage losses run somewhat lower than for 

 types 22 and 23, and somewhat higher than for Virginia fire-cured. 

 The average loss the first year in storage runs about 3 percent, the 

 second year about 1.5 percent, and the third year about 1 percent. 

 The loss in stemming ranges from 20 to 28 percent and averages about 

 24 percent. 



BURLEY, TYPE 31 



Burley tobacco is produced principally in Kentucky, southern Ohio 

 and Indiana, western West Virginia, central and eastern Tennessee, 

 western Virginia and North Carolina, and sections of Misssouri and 

 Kansas. In point of production Burley ranks next to flue-cured, 

 usually comprising from 20 to 25 percent of the total United States 

 crop of all types. Less than 5 percent of the Burley crop is exported. 

 Most of it is used in this country in cigarettes, and in smoking and 

 chewing tobacco. 



Burley tobacco is a light air-cured type ranging in color from a light 

 straw to a dark tan or light brown. All Burley is harvested by the 

 stalk-cutting method. The stalks are split by some growers, and others 

 spear them on to sticks about 4}o feet long which are hung in tiers in 

 ventilated barns or sheds. The green tobacco is permitted to dry out 

 or cure under natural atmospheric conditions. No heat is used, except 

 during wet weather when it is sometimes necessary to use charcoal 

 braziers under the tobacco to prevent house burn. House burn is a 

 fungus or bacterial disease that develops during rainy seasons, espe- 

 cially if the tobacco is crowded so closely in the curing barn that free 

 circulation of air is prevented. 



Burley is usually harvested during the latter part of August or first 

 of September, and hangs in the curing barn from 6 to 10 weeks. 

 After it is fully cured and when the tobacco is in order it is taken down 

 and the leaves are removed or stripped from the stalks. 



As a rule the Burley growers sort the tobacco into six natural groups 

 as they strip it. The leaves that grow nearest the ground are known 

 as spods or flyings; the next leaves upward on the plant are called 

 trashes; next above these are the lugs; then come the bright leaf or 

 cutter grades ; next the red-leaf or heavy-leaf grades ; and last the tips. 

 In sorting out a crop it is sometimes necessary to make subdivisions of 

 these major groups on the basis of color or length. 



The auction-sales system of marketing prevails throughout the 

 major part of the Burley territory. The markets usually open early 

 in December or late in November and continue through the greater 

 part of February. The peak in sales is probably reached in Janu- 

 ary. Redrying plants are located in most of the principal markets, 

 and the tobacco is put through machines in the same way as flue- 

 cured tobacco. In some of the outlying territories and smaller 

 markets the tobacco is air-dried. In air-drying, the hands of tobacco 

 are hung on sticks in much the same way as the green plants. The 

 tobacco is hung in tiers and left throughout the winter. During the 

 winter months it loses practically all its moisture content and becomes 

 almost bone dry. In the spring during a damp season when the 

 tobacco absorbs sufficient moisture for handling, it is taken down and 

 packed into hogsheads. 



The loss in weight in redrying Burley tobacco, including the dirt 

 and sand loss of 1 percent, is about the same as that of flue-cured— 



137895°— 37 3 



