STRIPPING AND BUNDLING THE LEAVES. 15 
When the barn is filled with fresh tobacco it should be closed 
tight, and if the weather is cool or damp small charcoal fires should 
be built in the barn to warm up the tobacco and wilt it down. When 
the tobacco has wilted and started to yellow, the doors and ventila- 
tors should be opened to allow the circulation of air to carry off the 
moisture. If the curing season is a normal one the doors and ventila- 
tors should be opened every morning and closed at night, but if the 
season is dry the reverse of this action is required, especially when 
the process of curing the tobacco is nearly completed. If the season 
is a very damp and rainy one small charcoal fires, placed close together, 
should be lighted in the barn to dry out the tobacco and prevent it 
from pole sweating. 
After the tobacco is cured the barn should be left closed until there 
comesa damp, foggy time orarain, when all of the doors and ventilators 
should be opened, to allow the tobacco to come ‘‘in case,” so that it 
can be taken down. The tobacco is in proper case for taking down 
’ when it does not rattle when handled and when at the same time if 
a number of leaves are squeezed tightly in the hand they will spring 
partly open again upon releasing the pressure. 
TAKING DOWN THE LATHS. 
When the tobacco is in case it is in proper condition for taking 
down. The floor of the barn should be cleared and some old blankets 
laid down. On these the tobacco is piled without removal from the 
laths, several laths being taken at a time and the first layer laid so 
that the laths will be next to the cloth and the tobacco sticking up. 
The next layer is piled so that the tobacco is next to the tobacco of 
the other layer and the laths are on top. This process is repeated until 
the pile is several layers high. When the pile is complete it should 
be covered well with either blankets or cornstalks, and it can be left 
with safety for several days before it is stripped if the weather is not 
too warm. If the weather is warm, there is danger of the tobacco 
heating and spoiling if left more than four or five days in the pile. 
STRIPPING AND BUNDLING THE LEAVES. 
The two processes of stripping and bundling go together. A lath 
of tobacco is taken up and the leaves shoved together at the middle 
of the string. The string is now severed close to each end of the 
lath, wound around the leaves at the butt ends, and drawn through 
the “hand” of leaves so as to fasten it. These “hands” of tobacco, 
as they are called, are packed in a false box lined with paper, butts 
out, and the tips of the leaves overlapping in the center. About 30 
pounds are packed in each box in this way and then pressed down. 
Paper is wrapped about the tobacco and tied with strings which 
were placed at intervals along the box before the paper was put into 
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