Harvesting .- -Harvesting is a hand operation. Many types of relatively small and 

 sinnple devices have been developed to aid in tying or stringing tobacco leaves in the field. 

 Sonne of these "gadgets" are carried by the operator between rows, while others have a 

 single snnall wheel and are pushed between rows. As mentioned elsewhere, the "ridges" 

 are usually nnade on the contour, and, since it rains frequently during the harvest season, 

 spaces or furrows between the ridges are often wet or muddy. This increases the diffi- 

 culty of harvesting, and it is often necessary to carry the primed leaves to ends of rows 

 or to grassy areas. Tobacco sleds or "boats" are not used in Rhodesia, for hauling the 

 prinned leaves to curing barns, as in Canada and the United States. Instead, these growers 

 use wagons or trailers with flat beds, or with racks, for holding leaves that have been 

 "strung" in the fields. 



Curing .- - Flue-curing is a farm operation, performed by the growers before market- 

 ing the tobacco. 



Most of the barns used in Rhodesia for flue-curing tobacco are made of brick, made 

 in many instances right on the farm. Barns used are larger than those in Canada or the 

 United States, and are built in units of four or five. 



Hand labor alone is used for filling the barns or kilns with primed (green) tobacco. 

 This differs from the method used in Canada where the tobacco (tied on sticks) nnoves 

 up an incline-plane type of elevator into the barn to a person or persons who place the 

 sticks on poles. 



In past, the main fuel for curing has been wood. Handling of wood and stoking of 

 fires is done largely by African labor. On nnany farms, supplies of wood are inadequate, 

 and some growers are changing to use of oil-type heating units. Estinnates by growers 

 using oil indicate that fuel costs are $28 to $30 for each barn of tobacco cured. The writer 

 observed a new-type coal (stoker) heating unit on one farm for which curing costs were 

 estinnated at about $23 per barn of tobacco cured. 



Sonne growers stated that they expect to convert to oil or coal when their present 

 wood supply is gone, rather than to plant tree seedlings and wait 10 years for the trees 

 to grow. In addition, the use of wood involves labor cost for cutting trees and hauling 

 wood, plus the further labor input required for firing with use of wood, connpared with 

 the less expensive labor required when curing with oil or coal stoker units. Since much 

 of the labor is unskilled, it appears more difficult to secure uniformity, and quality curing, 

 than in the United States and in Canada. 



Southern Rhodesia: Flue-curing barns are built in blocks of 

 four, six, eight, or more. Fuel may be wood, coal, paraffin 



5 



