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type should be about a foot in thickness after being compressed. 

 The other dimensions depend in some measure upon what tobacco is 

 available, long leaves requiring bales of larger size than a smaller 

 average leaf. Every tobacco company should adopt a standard and 

 adhere to it. 



A second fermentation takes place in the bale. It is a slower one 

 and the temperatures do not rise very high, but it seems to be quite 

 important in fixing character in the leaf. This second fermentation 

 mellows the tobacco and tends to improve the aroma. The bales 

 should be placed in the warehouse for at least six months before 

 selling. The warehouse should be clean, dry, and cool, and no other 

 goods stored with the tobacco. Tobacco very readily absorbs bad 

 odors, and may be ruined by lack of cleanliness at any stage in its 

 curing, fermenting, or warehousing. In the warehouse the bales 

 should not be piled in tiers of more than four or five deep, and 

 should be occasionally handled over and examined to see that mois- 

 ture conditions are right. Even in the bale there is still danger of 

 loss through too much moisture. 



Every ounce of tobacco leaf is salable. There is absolutely no 

 waste in this crop from the time when the tobacco is gathered in 

 the field. Even moldy tobacco if baled by itself has value, and can 

 be disposed of at prices which will pay for the handling. 



MARKETING. 



Tobacco is always sold on sample, and, needless to say, the quality 

 of the tobacco in the bale must correspond to that of the sample. It 

 is well again to emphasize the point that the value of the lowest 

 grade, quality, or size of tobacco in the bale governs the selling price 

 of the whole bale. Five pounds of filler tobacco in a bale of wrapper 

 leaf will make the whole bale filler when valued by any tobacco 

 broker, although, of course, the manufacturer reaps the full benefit. 



When the tobacco is ready to market it should be insured and 

 every precaution adopted to keep it from getting wet. In the early 

 years of the industry it will undoubtedly have to be shipped to the 

 New York or other markets, but when the tobacco is once established 

 every pound of it can be sold on the plantation. 



CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS. 



Anyone undertaking the cultivation of tobacco in this or any other 

 country must have all his equipment of land and buildings ready 

 before even a single acre of tobacco is planted. Tobacco brooks no 

 delay. Wrapper tobacco is of the highest price, and every effort 

 should, therefore, tend toward producing as large a crop of wrapper 

 and of as good a quality as the soil and climate will permit. When 



