Figure 1 



Packing is done after placing a layer of leaves about 15 inches deep in the 

 bottom of the frame. The leaves are arranged so that the tips overlap several inches 

 inihe center of the pack, serving to hold the pack together. The packing board is then 

 placed on top of the tobacco and stepped on to pack down the leaves,. The board is 

 removed, another layer of about 12 inches of tobacco is added, and the leaves again 

 pressed down with the packing board. Successive 12-inch layers of leaves are added 

 and pressed down until the desired weight is reached. With a little experience, workers 

 are able to judge the weight of the^pile and adjust it to the desired weight. 



After packing the frame, each worker grasps a side of the frame and lifts it up 

 and off the tobacco. Then, diagonally opposite corners of the sheet are picked up and 

 exchanged with the partner across the top of the pile. The two ends are stretched 

 tight and tied together. The other two diagonally opposite corners of the sheet are 

 then tied over the top of the pile. Using this method, two workers can average packing 

 300 pounds in 30 minutes. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE DISPOSABLE KNIT- PAPER TOBACCO SHEET 



After being packed onthe farm, the bale needs to be protected against contamination 

 by foreign matter, breakage, and weight loss in the marketing channels. A disposable 

 knit-paper tobacco sheet was substituted for the conventional burlap- and- cotton sheet 

 used for transporting loose tobacco (fig. 2). The kraft knit-paper sheet has several 

 physical properties which make it suitable for use in tobacco marketing. One of the 

 foremost is the high wet strength of the paper, made possible by special treatment 



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