15 



it, so it does not dry properly, but has every chance to mold and 

 also cause the outside leaf to mold. 



Room is also gained in the house, as the racks can be so placed 

 to accommodate the different lengths without waste of space. It 

 does not require 24 inches of space in which to hang a 12 inch 

 leaf. 



Assorting is more quickly done in the green state, as far as 

 length and width are concerned, than when the tobacco is cured. 



In curing, the leaves shrink one inch in every twelve inches of 

 length and in the same proportion for the width. The green 

 leaves, sorted to length, are strung with a sail needle upon cotton 

 twine, face to face, and back to back, about one inch apart. The 

 string is knotted at each end and the ends are slipped into a cut 

 in each end of a 4 foot lath. The laths are then carried and hung 

 in tiers upon the racks within the barn. 



Patented tobacco poles, consisting of laths with sharp-pointed 

 12 inch wires, fixed six inches apart and extending half their 

 length on each side of the lath, are much used in some mainland 

 tobacco districts. The green leaves are strung through their 

 stems on these wires, 4 to 6 leaves on each end of the wire. The 

 leaves should not touch each other. As they wilt, the poles may 

 be shoved along closer together, thus greatly economizing space. 



As soon as the house is filled with green leaf, close all the ven- 

 tilators, and, if the weather is rainy or foggy, apply, a gentle heat. 

 If hot and dry, the artificial heat is not required. No exact rule 

 of procedure can be laid down, but the temperature and ventila- 

 tion in the curing barn must be so regulated as to cause a gradual 

 yellowing of the leaf. The more this process of gradual death 

 of the living cells of the leaf can be prolonged, without inducing 

 the development of molds, rot and pole burn, the better will be 

 the quality of the finished article. Sudden changes of tempera- 

 ture are injurious to the leaf. 



All living green plants contain within their cells various un- 

 stable chemical compounds known as "enzymes." The physio- 

 logical function of these "enzymes" is but little understood, but it 

 is known that they increase in amount when the vitality of the 

 plant is weakened by disease. The function of the leaves of 

 plants is to elaborate food to the end that the plants may com- 

 plete their full life-cycle, put forth flowers and ripen seeds to 

 reproduce the species. 



In the artificial cultivation of tobacco, the natural life-cycle 



