34 BULLETIN 16, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
bright types, at which point the heat is maintained until all the stems 
and stalks are completely killed and dried out and the cure finished. 
Tobacco will tend to redden shghtly at a temperature of 180° or 
above. In the filler districts in the western part of the Old Belt 
section the stems and stalks are more commonly killed out at about 
200°; and sometimes for the last few hours as much as 225°, or even 
more, is maintained. These higher temperatures are thought to 
sweeten the leaf and a reddish, rich-looking “face” is imparted, 
known as “scorching.” These excessively high temperatures, how- 
ever, while still extensively used, may make the leaf more or less 
brittle, which renders it objectionable for chewing purposes. 
After the cure is finished, the tobacco ordinarly should not be 
allowed to come in high order for any length of time, especially in 
warm weather, or reddening and perhaps worse damage from mold 
or decay may result. On the other hand, to keep the tobacco for 
some time in moderate warmth and moisture may be an advantage 
in eliminating any remaining green color.' 
In the South Carolina portion of the New Belt a large proportion 
of the tobacco is generally sold as soon as it is cured, without either 
assorting or tying the leaves into hands. Of course, the system of 
priming the leaves as they ripen makes for an approximate grading, 
since the leaves taken off at any one time would be from approxi- 
mately the same portion of the different plants, representing the 
bottom, middle, or top leaves, as the case might be. When sold in 
that way the tobacco is allowed to come in soft order as soon as’ possi- 
ble (generally in a day or two) after the cure is finished. The 
leaves are removed from the strings and packed into the wagon body 
as straight as possible, and the load is immediately taken to the ware- 
house and sold. In other sections, however, the tobacco is more gen- 
erally first bulked in the packing house on the sticks as it comes from 
the curing barn, either in the shingle bulk, as is more customary in 
the New Belt section, or in the square coop, as is more common in 
the Old Belt section; or it may be hung up in the packing house or 
curing barn, the sticks being crowded closely together to keep the leaf 
from coming into too high order, which would cause it to turn red. 
The tobacco is then graded and tied into hands at any time con- 
venient to the grower and sold as desired. 
Except in cool, very dry weather, tobacco will generally come into 
order so that it can be removed from the curing barn on about the 
second morning after the cure is finished. All the doors and ventila- 
tors should be opened at night to let in the moist air. The web of 
the leaf will generally become fairly soft the first night. The next 
day the barn should be tightly closed if the weather is dry, in order 
to retain the moisture. At night the barn again should be opened 
1Hor more detailed information in regard to the process of -curing tobacco, see 
Farmers’ Bulletin 523, entitled ‘‘ Tobacco Curing.” 
