159 



Edible Products. 



stacked ready for putting into position. The posts are then set up, plumbed and 

 lined, half filled in and rammed, then sawn level at the top to a line stretched from 

 one end of the house to the other ; they are then plumbed again and filled in and 

 rammed firm. The next to go up is the 4 inches by 4 inches plate ; this will have 

 been constructed and lightly put together on the ground, so that it can be put up in 

 sections ; the splices should always be at the top of a post, and a main one if possible. 

 The next to be fixed are the 3 inches by 4 inches barraderas (fig. 1) joining the 

 4 inches by 4 inches plate at both sides of the house and the main posts ; after these 

 the barradera frames braced, as shoAvn in fig. 2, the 3 inches by 3 inches scantling at 

 the top, then the ends and shutters ; after these the roof rafters, the 2 inches by 3 

 inches movable barraderas (fig. 1), and then the thatch ; and lastly ' wattle and clay ' 

 the walls. 



A Tobacco Curing House. (Fig. 2.) 



For two acres of tobacco about 350 bamboo bars, 15 feet long and 3 inches in 

 diameter, will be required on which to hang the green tobacco, and a good quantity 

 of dry " Jippi-jappa" thatch heart should be procured for tying the plants in pairs 

 preparatory to hanging on the bars. 



Cutting.— If a careful watch be kept on the field, it will be noticed that some 

 few of the plants will begin to ripen ; these may not be cut yet until a sufficient 

 number has ripened to fill at least ten bars ; then go through the whole field and cut 

 out all that are quite ripe and those that have not quite finished ripening the top leaf. 



The best time to commence to cut is about three o'clock in the afternoon, and 

 continue until dark. The leaves then contain very little moisture, and are, on that 

 account, less brittle and less liable to break, and they also dry much quicker than 

 when cut in the morning. This, however, may be done only when there is no danger 

 of rain falling in the night, as the plants have to remain on the ground until the 

 next morning ; a light shower will not affect them and heavy rains only do so by 

 splashing them with dirt. 



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