July, 1909.] 



23 



Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 



The curing house proper may consist 

 of any convenient outhouse, clean and 

 cool, and, if possible, with a temper- 

 ature not higher than 70 degrees. An 

 empty wine cellar or coachhouse will 

 serve the purpose, the essentials being 

 freedom from heat, hot wind, dust, 

 rain and light. Lofts under corrugated 

 iron roofs, stables where animals are 

 kept, verandahs or lean-to sheds exposed 

 at side and front, are to be avoided. 



Second Step in Curing— The third 

 illustration represents the curing camp 

 and the rods hanging on the trellis and 

 lying on the ground. 



The greatest care must be taken to 

 prevent the tobacco from touching or 

 rubbing and the rods from slipping 

 along the wire ; to prevent this the ends 

 should be secured with strong string. 

 The first day the rods are kept 

 two inches apart, the tobacco being 

 close but not touching, and in the event 

 of a scorching hot day, should be cover- 

 ed by bags or canvas sheets, though 

 for the first day only. The second day 

 the rods are kept about four inches 

 apart, and the third and subsequent 

 days six inches. The object of vary- 

 ing the widths is to expose the tobacco 

 gradually and prevent sudden or too 

 rapid drying and to attain a good colour. 

 The leaves gradually change from a 

 pale yellow to a warm yellow brown 

 colour and become dry to the touch. 

 This process takes usually from 12 to 15 

 days, subject to the weather. 



In the event of threatening, all rods 

 hanging outside must immediately be 

 brought under cover and hung up singly, 

 but not touching, nor must they be taken 

 out again until the weather is per- 

 fectly clear. It sometimes occurs that 

 the weather continnes threatening for 

 two or three days and the fresh tobacco 

 may become mouldy. As a preventive, 

 a heating oil stove may be allowed to 

 burn in the curing shed to reduce the 

 dampness in the atmosphere. 



The tobacco in the curing camp must 

 be covered without fail every night, 

 dew or no dew, otherwise loss will result. 



Third Step in Curing. — When the 

 mid-rib of the leaf is brittle and per- 

 fectly dry, the rods are removed from 

 the trellis and laid on the grass or on 

 clean sacking, each one singly, and 

 allowed to remain thus for the whole 

 day and covered at night with bagging 

 to keep out the dew. After removing 

 the sacking the next morning, the rods 

 must be turned, exposing the other sur- 

 face of leaves to the sun. This is 

 repeated for two days, and on the 

 third morning the tobacco is removed to 

 the shed and stacked. 



It sometimes happens that the leaves 

 having been picked a trifle green, or 

 from some other cause, do not colour 

 properly. In such cases they are 

 damped with pure water applied as a 

 very fine mist spray through a spi'ay 

 pump at sunrise. One day the one side 

 is sprayed, the next day the other. 

 This is repeated only once on each side 

 of the leaf. Spraying is not necessary 

 in every case if the pioper colour is 

 acquired without it. 



The fourth illustration represents a 

 trolley which is brought in the curing 

 camp for conveying the dry tobacco to 

 the shed. The trolly consists of three 

 stories, each accommodating 30 rods 

 without causing damage to the leaves. 



The fifth illustration shows the stacked 

 tobacco on a platform of planks raised 

 about 18 inches from the ground. The 

 tobacco is covered well with sacking 

 to retain its moisture, and keep out dust 

 and air. In this state the tobacco may 

 be kept until a convenient time for 

 pressing. Before pressing, in case the 

 tobacco is very dry, a little water may 

 be gently sprayed on to it with an 

 "Abol " syringe or spray pump having 

 a '* Vermorel " nuzzle, preferably on one 

 side of each rod as it is laid down, where 

 it must then remain at least two days. 

 This permits of the whole mass becom- 

 ing soft and elastic. 



The Baling Press. -Probably any hand 

 baler might be adapted to the purpose 

 of pressing the Turkish tobacco into the 

 form in which it is customarily put on 

 the market, but one specially designed 

 for the purpose, as used in Turkey, is a 

 material advantage and can be impro- 

 vised at small cost. 



A stout wooden platform, 2 feet by 

 7 feet, is required. Near one end two 

 uprights are erected and joined together 

 by a cross piece, in which a worm and 

 vertical screw is affixed, or other device 

 for exerting a pressure downwards may 

 be arranged. The press proper consists 

 of a box 2 feet by 16 inches by 2 feet, 

 which slides in and out under the screw. 

 One end of the box is fixed to the wooden 

 floor ; the other end and sides are 

 attached by hinges, and a wooden f rame 

 fits round the top to keep the sides in 

 position. The lid consists of a flat piece 

 fitting just inside the box, and when in 

 operation the pressure is exerted by the 

 screw upon this lid. At any time either 

 side or the one end may be opened with- 

 out disturbing the rest, and the progress 

 of the pressing process watched and 

 controlled. 



Baling. — Pressing may be undertaken 

 at any convenient time alter the con- 

 clusion of the drying ^process. The 

 operation is best carried on in wet 



