Figure 18.—Maryland curing bam. 
The air-curing of primed shade-grown cigar wrapper and Puerto Rican fill- 
er usually takes from 4 to 6 weeks. Supplementary heat is almost always used 
in curing the shade tobacco, essentially to protect the product, and to main 
tain the temperature at a favorable level rather than to elevate it. 
When fully cured, the leaf is too dry and brittle to be handled without 
serious damage. However, tobacco leaves absorb moisture from moist air and 
they will readily absorb 20 percent or more under warm, humid conditions. 
Therefore, the tobacco is not taken down from the tiers until after damp 
weather has made the leaves soft or pliable enough to be handled without 
breaking. Such weather is often spoken of as a "tobacco season," and the leaf 
in this condition is said to be "in case" or "in order." 
In the case of stalk-cut tobacco, as the: plants are taken from the sticks 
they are usually piled in heaps in such a way that the tobacco will not dry 
out for several days. The leaves are stripped from the stalks as soon as pos- 
sible. 
In the auction market areas, as the leaves are removed from the stalks, 
they are sorted into several grades, according to stalk position, quality, 
color, and size. Leaves of different grades are tied with another leaf at the 
butts to form "hands," of about 10 to 40 leaves each, depending on the type. 
The tobacco is then bulked down until time for delivery to the auction market. 
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