21 



requiring constant vigilance. The control of temperatures, ventila- 

 tion, and humidity are a matter of practice which will have to be 

 determined in each locality. In general, the temperatures should 

 remain low until the leaf has wilted and should never be allowed to 

 go so high as to set the green color in the leaf. The temperature 

 should exceed humidity from 10° to 15°. If the degree of humidit} 7 

 approaches nearer to that of the temperature, pole rot, stem rot, white 

 vein, molds, and other maladies of the curing barn can not be kept 

 out. In 1006 it is said that 20 per cent of the whole tobacco crop of 

 the United States was affected from these causes. In a humid climate 

 like that of Hawaii artificial heat in the curing barn is absolutely 

 essential for this cause alone, even if its possession did not double the 

 capacity of the curing plant. 



As soon as the web of the leaf has passed from the yellow into 

 the brown, the temperature should be greatly increased in order to 

 dry out the stem and veins. The heat does not injure the leaf after 

 the color is once set. As soon as the veins are dry, or as soon as the 

 green coloring has disappeared in them, the leaf is cured and is ready 

 for removal. With artificial heat the curing process may be fin- 

 ished in from twelve to fourteen days. Without heat it will require 

 twenty-four to twenty-eight days. Artificial heat in the curing 

 barn is an insurance and is a very important part of the investment. 

 It insures even color, freedom from disease, and doubles the capacity 

 of the establishment. The tobacco is now ready to take down, assort, 

 and bundle for fermentation. After the unit is emptied it is ready 

 immediately for a new filling. The tobacco will keep in the pile bet- 

 ter than it will hanging in the barn on account of danger of molds 

 should a period of wet weather ensue. 



SORTING AND BUNDLING. 



The tobacco having been taken on the poles to the sorting room, 

 the poles are bunched close in storage stalls of a construction similar 

 to those in the curing barn. Before the leaf' is removed from the 

 string it should be roughly sorted into thin, medium, and thick 

 leaves, all damaged leaves being placed with the filler leaves irrespec- 

 tive of thickness. If the tobacco on the pole is mainly thin leaves, the 

 medium and thick or broken leaves should be stripped from the 

 string, and vice versa, care being taken not to tear or break the leaf 

 in pulling it off the pole. The thin, medium, and thick leaves should 

 be placed in separate compartments. The pole having been culled, 

 the string is taken off the pole and the leaves drawn off from it. As 

 rapidly as assorted, the different grades should be bundled into 

 hands. A hand consists of from 50 to 100 or more leaves. The 

 stems are gathered in the palm of the hand between the thumb and 



