AMERICAN TOBACCO TYPES, USES, AND MARKETS 8O 
hung or “‘stiffened’’ previous to bulking. The bulking of tobacco in 
this instance is largely a matter of convenience in connection with the 
sorting and prizing. It is done during the winter months and little 
fermentation occurs. On being removed from the bulks the tobacco 
is resorted, sized, and prized. Figures 42 and 43 show typical oper- 
ations in a prizery in the Kentucky-Tennessee fire-cured territory. 
CIGAR TYPES 
Some of the cigar types of tobacco—the cigar-wrapper types, for 
example—are fermented by the process of bulk sweating. The tobacco 
is taken directly from the curing barns to buildings especially con- 
structed for the purpose. Here the tobacco is built into bulks of 
varying shape and size according to local custom. In northern 
latitudes the buildings are heated to facilitate fermentation. In 
warmer climates artificial heating is not required. 
Tobacco bulks are built up with great care and kept under close 
scrutiny. ‘Thermometers are inserted in tubes that penetrate to the 
center of the bulk, and daily temperature recordings are made. 
Within a few days the temperature in the bulk will reach what is 
considered a safe maximum for the type of leaf. Then the bulk is 
immediately reconstructed with the tobacco that formed the outside 
layer in the first bulk changed to an interior position. This process 
is repeated, the temperatures gradually getting lower, until the 
fermentation has been completed. The tobacco is further sorted— 
leaf by leaf in the more expensive wrapper types—sized, retied, and 
packed into bales. (See Wrapper Types, p. 46.) It is then stored in 
a cool place for a month or more when it is ready for sale or other 
disposition. 
Some cigar-filler and binder types are packed in bundles by the 
growers and delivered to the buyers. It may then be bulk-sweated, 
as above, or table sorted and packed in wooden cases for either natural 
or forced sweating. In forced sweating the cases are held in heated 
rooms for hastening the sweat. 
In the Puerto Rico filler district all tobacco is bulk-sweated (6). 
Tue AGING oF ToBACcCcO 
Tobacco in its freshly cured state is not suitable for manufacturing 
purposes—byproducts uses excepted. Aging is required to complete 
its development. This is essentially a process of fermentation accom- 
panied by chemical change. This fermentation may be hastened by 
suitable procedure in handling the tobacco as a preliminary to storage 
or the tobacco may be stored for natural fermentation. The latter 
procedure is customary in all except the cigar types, and takes advan- 
tage of the fact that tobacco in storage will undergo annual sweats 
or fermentations. Asa rule from 2 to 3 years of storage are required 
to accomplish the necessary aging by natural or unforced fermentation. 
(See Preparation for Storage, p. 81.) 
CHANGES DURING FERMENTATION AND AGING OF TOBACCO 
In many respects the fermentation of tobacco may be regarded as an 
extension of the curing process. This is illustrated by a brief state- 
ment of some of the changes in shade-grown cigar wrapper tobacco 
during curing and fermentation: 
