TOBACCO SHRINKAGE AND LOSSES IN WEIGHT 



15 



prizery, or packing house, of the buyer. A part of this tobacco is 

 also marketed through a growers' cooperative association. The 

 auction markets for these types sometimes open early in December, 

 but as a rule they open either about the middle of December or the 

 first of January. The country buying is usually done before the 

 opening of the markets and early in the sales season. The auction- 

 sales floors and the associations usually operate until about the middle 

 of May. 



The moisture content of these types is considerably lower than 

 that of Virginia fire-cured when delivered to the market. No definite 

 tests have been made by the United States Department of Agriculture 

 on moisture content at time of delivery, but information received from 



Figure 7.— Fire-cured tobacco of type 22 hung in tiers for air-drying 



buyers and packers of these tj^pes indicates that the moisture content 

 at that time ranges from 18 to 22 percent. 



The tobacco of these types is conditioned and packed under three 

 general degrees of moisture content or order, known in the trade as 

 English order, continental order, and domestic order. In packing 

 for English order the moisture content is reduced to about 1 1 percent 

 either by running the tobacco through a redrying machine or by air- 

 drying. 4 In packing for continental, or stiffened, order the tobacco is 

 air-dried to a point at which it contains about 13 or 14 percent of 

 moisture (fig. 7). In packing for domestic order, or winter order as 

 it is sometimes known, the tobacco is packed in practically the same 

 order as it is received from the farmers. Tobacco handled and packed 

 in English order will lose from 10 to 12 percent in the process. Tobacco 

 handled and packed in continental, or stiffened, order will lose about 5 



4 Air-drying is discussed in the section on Burley, type 31, p. 17. 



