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quantity of this material is not obtainable a lining of dry banana leaves 

 ( thrash) some three inches thick, will answer almost as well. 



A perpectly round press is undoubtedly the best, though a hexago- 

 nal or six sided one does almost as well and is much easier to construct ; 

 if the tobacco house has a wooden floor the sides of the p ess may be 

 be built upon it ; if an earth floor the wooden floor of the press must 

 be raised about six inches from the ground It is most convenient to 

 build the press in one of the rooms of the curing house in a part not 

 exposed 10 the wind It is best under any circumstances to have suffi- 

 cient banana tr-»sh in the bottom of the press to cover it to the depth 

 of at least six inches when pressed down by the weight of the tobacco 

 that is put upon it. The heat that is evolved by the fermentation has 

 a tendency to rise towards the top and as a consequence the bottom is 

 liable to become chilled if it is not snugly packed and almost air tight ; 

 whenever tobacco is bein^ fermented, and it becomes chilled, fungus 

 is sure to grow. The dimensions of the press should be nine ft. in dia- 

 meter by five ft in depth ; no pilon should be less than nine nor more 

 than ten ft. in diameter if nicely fermented 1 obacco is required ; about 

 two hundred double packed bars will fill a press of this size. 



The tobacco having come safely through the drying process and the 

 press beingready, advantage should be taken of the first opportunity to 

 " put press" ; — this occurs after a day's rain, when the leaves lose their 

 crispness and become "mild" i.e. as s<>ft and elastic as kid skin. The 

 early morning is the best time to begin the wurk of transferring the 

 t< bacco from the bars to the press as everything must be finished be- 

 fore the atmosphere is hot and dry enough to make the leaves crisp 

 again. On the night following the rainy day all the shutters and 

 d<>ors must be left open to allow the moist, dew-laden air to circulate 

 among the plants, and before day-break in the morning all hands 

 should be at work. In preparing the tobacco for the press the pairs 

 of plants should be tied into bundles of about twenty (four bundles to 

 a double packed bar) by passing a strand of thatch-leaf along the bar 

 under the strings and tying them together not quite as tightly as it 

 is possible to tie them; this will allow a loop to lay hold of when 

 handling the bundle, and is also convenient in other ways. The 

 bundles are then lifted off the bar and handed to a man armed with a 

 mallet-like piece of wood with which he gently taps the ends of the 

 stalks, whilst holding the bundle under the left arm, until they are 

 quite even ; after which he hands the bundle to the man who is in the 

 press to stack the tobacco ; the latter gives the bundle a good squeeze 

 and lays it down in the press with the tips of the leaves pointing to- 

 wards the centre and the stalks pressed tight against the wall. When 

 he has filled up all round the inside of the wall of the press, he must 

 commence the next layer about eighteen inches from the wall, and the 

 next about two and a half or three feet from the wall according 10 

 the length of the plant ; so that the whole of the bottom of the press 

 may be covered. When this is done he is to commence at ihe wall 

 again and continue in the same way as he began until the press is 

 filled, kneeling on and drawing the bundles tightly together as they 

 are put in. A halt, however, must be cried when the press is half 

 full for the purpose of inserting the thermometer, or rather the bam- 

 boo that is to hold it; this latter should be about an inch in diameter 



