THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 



lOeboteti to BQVitnltun, gjorttculture, an* the ^ousehottr BUB. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 



Xenophon. 



Vol. III. 



TOBACCO. 

 (Continued from page 26.) 



Of Stripping and Prizing. 



Stripping is begun as soon after the plants 

 are thoroughly cured and seasoned, as the con- 

 venience of the planter will permit. It is taken 

 off the sticks in proper season or order, and 

 packed in a large bulk for this purpose, and gen- 

 erally in higher order than is proper for prizing, 

 which enables the strippers to handle it with less 

 waste, and to tie it more neatly. There are 

 two facts generally believed to exist, in relation 

 to the order of tobacco, which are unaccounta- 

 ble. One is, that tobacco in order, or in a moist 

 state, is no heavier than when dry. The other, 

 that if it is taken down and bulked, as it is go- 

 ing out of season, that is, as it is passing from 

 a moist to a dryer state, it will return in the bulk 

 to the highest state of order it had previously 

 acquired. These opinions, however, seem to 

 have been established more by prescription than 

 recent experiment, for I can find no person that 

 will absolutely assert the facts upon his own 

 experience. But be it as it may, the latter fact 

 is so generally believed as to be attended to in 

 bulking tobacco. 



In stripping, the best planters make two qua- 

 lities besides stemmed. For this purpose, every 

 plant passes through the hands of the sorters, 

 (the most experienced and judicious of the la- 

 borers,) who pull off the two first, or ground 

 leaves, without looking. Upon examination, 

 the remainder of the plant may be found fit for 

 the first class — perhaps two more leaves are to 

 be taken off, or perhaps the whole is only fit for 

 the second class. In this way, the first class is 

 obtained, the leaves previously pulled off are 

 again sorted for the second class, and what is 

 unfit for this is stemmed. 



No definite idea of the quality of the different 

 classes can be well conveyed by description. It 

 can only, and soon will be acquired by observa- 

 tion and experience. The bundles of each con- 

 sist of four or five leaves neatly wrapped around 

 the head with another leaf. The stemmed to- 

 bacco (about two-thirds of the stem only being 

 taken out) is tied in large bundles, and when 

 packed in the hogshead for pressing is untied 

 and laid loosely, but in strait and uniform layers. 



After stripping, some planters hang up their 

 Vol. III.— 7 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 

 State. — Sully. 



No. 3. 



tobacco again upon sticks drawn smooth and 

 somewhat to a feather-edge, and as it comes in 

 proper order for prizing, it is taken down and 

 bulked, and closely and effectually covered till 

 the time of prizing arrives — the months of April 

 and May are thought the best time for this. — 

 Others pack their tobacco in double winrows, 

 that is, lightly lap the tails of the bundles, plac- 

 ing the heads on the outside, and thus raise a 

 bulk of three or four feet in height. It remains 

 in this situation well weighted, but oftentimes 

 without cover all the winter, and perhaps gets 

 completely dry ; but returns in proper order for 

 prizing in the warm weather of April and May. 

 It is a matter of much doubt and dispute, which 

 of these two modes is the best. Perhaps the 

 latter is to be preferred, because it is the least 

 trouble, provided the planter has plenty of house 

 room, and can so order it as to leave the win- 

 rows entirely free from interruption. Other 

 planters more careless, carry on the operation of 

 stripping and prizing together, without due re- 

 gard to the order of the tobacco, which may 

 account for the excess of inferior qualities, and 

 diversity of prices exhibited in our markets. 



Prizing is the last operation, but not the least 

 important in the care and attention it requires. 

 The size of our hogsheads are prescribed by 

 law. They must not exceed four and a half 

 feet in height, nor thirty-six inches in the diame- 

 ter of the heads. In these we generally attempt 

 to press 1,500 lbs. but we oftener fall below than 

 go over it. The average is perhaps not more 

 than 1,350 lbs. Our prizes are of the cheapest 

 and simplest construction, generally fixed by the 

 laborers who use them, and not exceeding two 

 or three dollars in entire cost. The stump of a 

 tree is generally used, instead of a post in the 

 ground, until it rots, and the hogshead is pro- 

 tected by a temporary shed, or a light portable 

 roof ■ straddled across the beam. I subjoin a 

 sketch of the one most commonly used. This 

 you will observe operates by an unceasing sus- 

 pended weight, capable of being increased by 

 the addition of stones to any required extent, 

 and which is suffered to settle gradually to the 

 desired point, by which all danger of bruising 

 from sudden and violent pressure is avoided. — 

 The important points in prizing, are to pack the 

 tobacco neatly, in straight and regular layers. 

 This is best done by putting in only one bundle 

 at a time, pressing and squeezing it closely 



C. T. BOTTS & L. M. BURFOOT, Editors. 



RICHMOND, MARCH, 1843. 



