STORAGE AND AGING 
Tobacco in its freshly-cured state as marketed by growers is not suitable 
for manufacturing purposes. Aging is required to complete its development. 
This involves chemical change, and in many respects may be regarded as an ex- 
tension of the curing process. The taste of freshly-cured leaf is unpalatable 
and the aroma is biting and pungent. Aging improves the aroma and tends to 
eliminate rawness, harshness, and, in part, the bitter taste which character- 
ize the leaf when it is first cured. 
Tobacco is normally marketed in "higher order" (containing more moisture) 
than is desirable for storage and some steps must be taken to correct this 
condition or the leaf will decay or deteriorate in storage. As soon as it 
goes into the hands of the dealer or manufacturer, it is rapidly prepared for 
storage. 
Tobacco production in the United States is usually thought of as falling 
into two broad groupings from the standpoint of handling and preparation for 
storage; namely, auction market areas (types 11-37), and cigar leaf areas 
(types 41-62). 
AUCTION MARKET AREAS 
Practically all of the tobacco sold in the auction market is packed in 
what is known as hogsheads for storage and aging. These are round barrel-type 
containers usually about 4 feet in diameter and 4 to 5 feet in height. The 
use of hogsheads dates back to early colonial days when the grower packed his 
own tobacco and had to get it to a river port; these barrel-like containers 
could be rolled along the roadways leading to the ports. Some tobacco that is 
to be exported is packed in boxes or cases, but most is still put into hogs- 
heads. 
In preparing the tobacco for packing in the hogsheads, practically all 
sold in the auction areas is redried. The principal exceptions to the redry- 
ing method of preparation for storage are in the Kentucky-Tennessee fire-cured 
areas, where some of the tobacco is packed with very little or no drying, and 
in Maryland, where it is in a very dry condition when marketed. 
The redrying process involves (1) the complete drying out of the tobacco 
and (2) the application of uniform moisture throughout all the leaf. Redrying 
is the most expeditious method of getting the tobacco into the proper order 
(condition with respect to its moisture content) for storage. Uniform mois- 
ture content helps to reduce breakage in packing, and aids in the "aging and 
fermentation" of the leaf. Most of the redrying facilities are concentrated 
in towns where the larger auction markets are located. 
The tobacco is moved from the auction floor to the "receiving rooms" of 
the redrying plants, where the baskets are resorted according to grades or 
blends of grades and lined up--about 8 to 10 of the same grade or blend of 
grades--along conveyors or "hanging lines." The conveyor line is a moving 
chain that carries 4-foot sticks placed end to end, and as it moves along, 
workers place one or two hands from each basket over each stick. This method 
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