l 7 



Controllable frieze ventilators and windows must be provided. 

 The sills should rest on or in the ground, leaving a dirt floor. 



As soon as the tobacco in the barn is cured and has been tied 

 into hands, an operation that must be made while the tobacco is 

 moist and pliable, the hands are packed in cases and taken at 

 once to the fermenting house. The tobacco, when cured, musf: 

 not be handled when it is dry, else it will crumble and be broken, 

 thus destroying the value of such leaves as are suitable for wrap- 

 per. 



In the fermenting house, platforms raised about 6 inches from 

 the floor, 12 feet long by 5 feet wide and with boarded ends 7 

 feet high, have been built. The bottom and ends of the platform 

 are lined with heavy paper. 



The hands of tobacco, fresh from the curing house, are placed 

 side by side, butt out, even with the edge of the platform, tip 

 towards center. Another row is then laid, overlapping, tip to- 

 wards center and so on until the floor of the platform is covered. 

 Layers are built on top of this in the same manner until the pile 

 is from 5 to 7 feet high. A cotton blanket is spread over the pile 

 and this covered with rubber blankets or tarpaulins. 



If the tobacco is sufficiently moist and pliable when placed in 

 bulk, fermentation begins at once. A platform, 5x12 feet, will 

 accommodate 5000 to 6000 pounds of leaf. A more satisfactory 

 ferment will be secured using this quantity than with a smaller 

 amount. 



The leaves should have from 25 to 30% of moisture when 

 placed in bulk. If too dry. the amount can be increased by wet- 

 ting down the floor and walls of the house with hot water, or, 

 by leading live steam into the room during the time that the bulk 

 is being filled, as cured tobacco leaves very readily absorb mois- 

 ture from the air. After the bulk is finished, the temperature 

 of the room should be kept rather high, the ventilators being oc- 

 casionally opened to permit escape of the ammonia which is gen- 

 erated in volume. If the tobacco was sufficiently moist, there will 

 be a daily rise in temperature or from 5 0 to 8° F. 



"In large establishments the temperature and humidity of the room 

 can be thoroughly regulated to secure uniform progress of the fermen- 

 tation. This is done by steam pipes to warm the room, in which there 

 are vents for the escape of steam when it is desired to make the atmo- 

 sphere more moist. The temperature of the room is kept quite high, 

 and the vapor from the bulk which is being worked over is very pun- 



