16 THE PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO UNDER SHADE. 
it. One side of the box is swung on hinges, so that it can be let 
down to allow the removal of the tobacco. The tobacco thus packed 
is called a “bundle” and is ready for market or for the packing house. 
When tobacco is to be packed by the grower it is not necessary to 
bundle it, but it may be packed at once into boxes and taken to the 
arghores 
The tobacco when packed in bundles may be kept for several weeks 
or months without much injury if the bundles are piled one layer 
high and put in a cool, moist place. The sooner the tobacco is put 
into the ferment after it is taken down, however, the better. 
PACKING. 
The term “packing” in handling tobacco means the preparing of 
the raw product for the use of the manufacturers. 
The first step in the packing of shade tobacco is to ferment it. 
This is done by taking the tobacco from the bundle, shaking it out 
thoroughly, and laying it down in layers in a large pile, called a 
“bulk,” being careful to keep the leaves straight. To build a bulk 
of tobacco requires some skill and experience. If the bulk is not 
made properly it is liable to settle sidewise and fall over. 
The bulk is built on a platform made of 1-inch boards and raised 
about 4 inches from the floor, so as to admit a free circulation of air. 
This platform is made for convenience 12 feet long by 54 feet wide. 
In starting to build a bulk a row of hands of tobacco is first laid 
around the outside edge of the platform, being careful to keep the 
butts of the hands close together and the leaves straight. This is 
called the outside tier. The next tier of this layer is laid so as to 
shingle over the first, lapping well over the tips of the leaves of the 
first tier. This is repeated until the bottom of the platform is cov- 
ered. Then another layer is laid on top of this one, and so on until 
the bulk is from 4 to 6 feet high. 
When about half of the tobacco intended for the bulk has been 
laid down, a tube 4 feet long should be placed so that one end comes 
to the outside and the other extends to the center of the bulk. This 
is for the purpose of placing a thermometer in the bulk to keep a 
record of its temperature. 
The temperature of the bulk is an index of how the tobacco is fer- 
menting. The nature of the tobacco, its condition, the temperature 
of the room in which it is bulked, and the time of the year all have 
their influence on the degree of rapidity with which the tobacco will 
heat. 
If the tobacco is in high case and is bulked early in the fall in a 
warm room, it will heat up very rapidly, and the bulk will have to be 
taken down, the hands of tobacco well shaken out, and the bulk 
rebuilt, the tobacco which has been on the outside being put on the 
inside and that which has been on the inside of the bulk on the outside. 
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