i6 



of the plant is disturbed and interfered with through continuous 

 topping and suckering or pinching off of all flower buds. This 

 causes what might be called a diseased condition in the leaves. 

 Instead of being able to live as millions of generations of tobacco 

 plants have lived before man took to cultivating this crop, the 

 plant is forced, whenever it gets ready to flower and reproduce 

 itself, to turn back and again store up the necessary supplies of 

 food in the leaves, always having seed production as the ultimate 

 object. In this artificially diseased state, the enzymes within the 

 living cells increase enormously and this is what primarily con- 

 stitutes the "ripening process" of tobacco leaves. A plant cell, 

 which is being gradually murdered, acquires a comparatively 

 large stock of enzymes. On the contrary, where death is rapid 

 there is but little development of these compounds. It is through 

 the oxidation and chemical breaking down of these enzymes 

 that the curing of a ripe tobacco leaf is effected. In a green 

 leaf that is cut or broken from its mother-plant, the enzymes 

 present are rendered inert if it is quickly dried so that death of the 

 plant cells is rapid. The heat, light and humidity in a tobacco 

 barn must be controlled and manipulated so as to cause the death 

 of the green cells of the leaf by gradual starvation. As the green 

 color fades out of a properly cured leaf, it is succeeded by the 

 characteristic rich, mellow, tobacco brown. When the veins and 

 midrib of the leaf have lost their green color, the tobacco is 

 cured. In Hamakua, the curing process requires from two to 

 four weeks. 



The determination of the proper time to harvest tobacco leaves 

 is a matter of judgment and experience. Leaves that are under- 

 ripe cure greenish, thin, papery and brittle. Those over-ripe be- 

 come harsh, thick and of uneven color. A ripe leaf cures gum- 

 my, pliable, elastic and of an even color. 



Each kind of tobacco has its special characteristics and must 

 be treated accordingly. Cigar tobaccos require slower barn cur- 

 ing and more careful manipulation during the whole period of 

 growth, curing and fermentation than do the cheaper grades of 

 manufacturing and export tobaccos. 



FERMENTATION. 



The fermentation or bulking house should be constructed of T 

 and G or other matched lumber or of i"xi2" N. W., battened, in 

 order to have 'the room where the fermenting is done air-tight. 



