TOBACCO. 
127 
As they walked homewards he said: 
s. “ When we harvest the leaves we shall follow 
the Cuban plan of cutting them in pairs, and hang- 
ing them over sticks which rest some distance above 
the ground. By leaving them to wither in the 
sun, we cause the leaves to become tough when 
they are handled. 
10. “ Then we shall carry the sticks with the 
tobacco leaves into the drying-house, and there 
leave them for three days. At the end of that 
time we must put the leaves further from each 
other, to let the air get amongst them freely to dry 
them.” 
11. “ And how long will the drying take, Uncle?” 
asked Edward. 
“ About a month,” replied Mr. Burns. “ Then, 
when the mid-ribs are perfectly dry, we shall strip 
the leaves from their stems, and put them in heaps 
to ferment, keeping the 4 wrappers’, or best leaves, 
evenly upon each other. After covering each heap 
with plantain leaves we shall put it into a press, 
where it will remain for another month. It is the 
fermentation that produces in the leaves their well- 
known flavour in smoking.” 
12. “ There will not be much work to do then, 
Uncle, if you leave the heaps in that way for so 
long.” 
“You are mistaken, Edward. Several times we 
shall have to make the heaps up afresh, changing 
