151 



be kept going until the atmosphere in the house is too warm and dry 

 for the fungus to live. The tobacco that is put out to sun should be 

 taken in on the least indication of rain or the lightest shower will spoil 

 it ; on the whole it is much the best to be on the safe side by burning 

 charcoal fires inside the house whenever partially dried tobacco is sub- 

 jected to a cold damp atmosphere. It must be borne in mind, how- 

 ever, that whilst, obviously, it is possible for the atmosphere in the 

 house to be too cold and damp there is also the danger of going to the 

 other extreme; whenever hot drying winds prevail all the shutters and 

 doors should be closed to prevent the tobacco drying too quickly ; and 

 on the other hand they should be closed when warm, dry, calm wea- 

 ther changes to cold and wet. 



The last part of the leaf to dry is the base of the midrib and when 

 it is observed that this part of every leaf is dry and shrivelled 

 the bars may be double packed, that i*, the pairs of plants may be 

 closed up so that each bar may carry the tobacco that was dried on 

 two bars. The double packed bars can then be placed at a distance of 

 six or eight inches apart in the room nearest the press, and allowed to 

 remain there until taken down to ferment. This re-arrangement is 

 best done when the leaves are not crisp, but soft and pliable ; dry to- 

 bacco becomes crisp when the air is very dry and mild after a day's rain, 

 and sometimes before rain ; indeed the softening of the leaves is a reli- 

 able indication of an approaching storm. 



The closing up of the dry tobacco is necessary for prolonging the 

 final drying stages and rendering it less liable to be affected by atmos- 

 pheric changes, and also provides more room and bars for the tobacco 

 that is being brought in from the field as the plants ripen. 



The Press : The word " press" conveys to the lay mind an instru- 

 ment constructed with numerous screws for the purpose of exerting 

 pressure upon any substance placed under it ; in reality the 

 tobacco press is nothing of the kind, but is merely a pile (Cuban 

 pilon) of tobacco stacked together to ferment in the same way as a 

 mixture of manure and leaves is prepared in England f or making hot 

 beds for cucumbers and melons, in iact, it may be said that anyone 

 who has h»d experience in the work of the forcing department of an 

 English garden could with safety undertake the curing of tobacco 

 after seeing one cr p cured by a Cuban ; or, I may be allowed to hope, 

 by following carefully the directions set forth in these notes. For the 

 benefit, however, of the large majority who have not been fortunate 

 enough to have had opportunities for observing the changes that occur 

 during vegetable fermentation, it will be necessary to set down all the 

 details concerning the actual curing of tobacco. 



The press, then, is simply the pile of tobacco ; the term however, is 

 also applied by the Anglo-Cuban to the receptable in which the tobacco 

 is stacked ; and when he wishes to convey the information that he is 

 about to ferment a " pilon" of tobacco he states that he is going to " put 

 press ;" to an outsider a most mysterious phrase. This receptacle may 

 be made of ordinary deal boards (though cedar is the best) lined sides 

 and floor with " jagua," the skin or " bark" stripped from the inner 

 surface of the broad leaf- sheath or petiole base of the matured and 

 fallen leaves of the Royal Palm (Oreodoxa regia) ; if a sufficient 



