GRADING. Pe 
On the other hand, if the tobacco is in low case, is not bulked until 
late in the winter, and is put down in a moderately cool room the 
tobacco may lay in the bulk for ten days before it begins to heat. 
It is evident from these facts that the only guide in fermenting 
tobacco is the thermometer. The record of the thermometer, coupled 
with experience, can do much to improve shade tobacco during the 
fermenting process. 
From long-continued experience in fermenting many different 
kinds of tobacco, the writer has come to the conclusion that the best 
results can be obtained by placing the tobacco in bulks of about 
5,000 pounds, and when the thermometer registers 114° F. tearing 
down the bulk, shaking out the tobacco, and rebulking. After the 
bulk has been rebuilt, the temperature should be allowed to come up 
again to 112° F., or higher if it will, and after this the tobacco is ready 
for grading. 
The fermentation room should be kept during the process of fer- 
mentation as nearly as possible at a temperature of 80° F., with about 
75 per cent relative humidity. The temperature should be as uniform 
as possible, because any great change will cause the moisture in the 
room to settle on the butts of the tobacco and produce mold, which 
is likely to damage the tobacco. The room should be well ventilated 
by an air shaft running from near the floor of the room to above the 
roof of the building. 
GRADING. 
As shade-grown tobacco has to be graded principally according to 
color, a well-lighted room is required, and to avoid deep shadows and 
a varying light the windows should be on the north side of the room. 
A low ceiling is desirable so as to keep the moisture as low in the 
room as possible. The room should be kept so moist that the tobacco 
will not dry up while it is being handled. 
When the tobacco is first taken from the bulk, the hands are untied 
and the leaves shaken out. It is then ‘‘sized”’ so that all of the leaves 
of the same length come together. This is done by a person taking 
the leaves and putting them into a box fixed up with partitions so 
that there is a space for all leaves from 12 to 14 inches long, 14 to 16 
inches long, and so on. 
After the tobacco has been sorted according to size it is taken to 
tables, where the leaves are opened and graded, all sound leaves of 
even color and good texture being classed as wrappers and the rest 
seconds or binders. The wrappers are further divided into light, 
medium, dark, and off or mixed, according to their color. The 
seconds are simply divided according to color into light and dark. 
After the tobacco has been graded it is tied with raffia into hands 
of one-fourth pound each. These hands are now packed into bales of 
about 150 pounds. The common size for a bale of shade tobacco is 
138 
