1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
373 
crate size, would throw up a flower-cluster, and 
prepare to produce seed. If allowed to do this, 
the leaves would be inferior in size and quality, 
so the moment the plant shows a " button," as 
fully laying each plant upon the ground, the 
buts all one way, without breaking a leaf. 
When the tobacco is wilted it is then ready 
to be drawn to the bam where it is to be cured. 
stick is pointed, to enter the socket of a sharp 
iron point, which serves as a needle with which to 
thread the tobacco upon the stick. The iron point 
is thrust through the large buts of the plant?, 
Fi^. 1.— TOPPING TOBACCO. 
the undeveloped flower-cluster is called, it is 
nipped off. This operation is called " topping " 
(fig. 1), and must be done with care not to injure 
the upper leaves. As the plants will not all be 
Fig. 2.— SUCKEKING TOBACCO. 
Those who grow tobacco as a regular crophave 
barns erected for the express purpose of curing ; 
these (fig. 5) are arranged with openings upon 
the sides and ventilators upon the roof, that can 
which are shoved upon the stick one after 
another, until the stick is full. The number of 
plants put upon each lath will vary with their 
size, eight or nine being the usual number. This 
Fig. 3. — CUTTING TOBACCO. 
in an equal state of forwardness, judgment is re- 
quired as to the amount of top to be taken 
off. Being checked in its upward develop- 
ment by the topping, the buds in the axil 
of each leaf soon push and 
form shoots bearing small leaves, 
and these when the upper ones 
are three or four inches long are 
broken out, an operation which is 
called " suckering" (fig. 2). Being 
prevented from pushing upward 
by topping, and from producing 
side shoots by suckering, the whole 
energies of the plant are directed 
to the main leaves, which grow 
to a greater size than on plants 
that have not been subjected to 
these operations. In a few weeks 
the leaves attain their maturity, 
and are ready for harvesting. The 
precise time can only be determined 
by those familiar with the appear- 
ance and feeling of the leaf. Too 
early or too late cutting has an 
untoward cflect upon the quality. 
Moreover, early frosts must be avoided, as a 
light frost will materially injure the crop and 
diminish its value. Cutting (fig. 3) is performed 
with a hatchet, the cutter beginning at the right 
of the row and working towards the left, care- 
Fig. 4.— STRINGING AND LOADING. 
be opened or closed according to the weather or 
the condition of the contents. The internal 
arrangements depend upon the manner in which 
the tobacco is hung. There are several methods 
Fig. 5.— TOBACCO BAEN. 
of hanging, but we will describe the one most 
generally followed at present. A supply of 
strong oak laths or sticks is provided ; these are 
about four feet long and three eighths of an inch 
thick and an inch and ahalf wide. One end of each 
operation is performed in the field (fig. 4), or the 
tobacco is loaded upon a cart, and carried to the 
barn, where it is put upon the laths. When 
it is done in the field, a cart is rigged for the 
purpose of carrying it, as shown 
in fig. 4. Supports are arranged 
within the barn, upon which 
the ends of the laths rest, and 
they are placed tier above tier until 
the barn is full. At first the laths 
are put far enough apart to allow 
sufficient circulation of air, and as 
the tobacco dries they are moved 
closer together, to make more 
room. The success of the curing 
will depend upon the weather and 
the proper management of the ven- 
tilation. After the tobacco is cured 
it is taken from the laths iu a damp 
spell, and stripped; the leaves are 
assorted into different qualities and 
made up into bundles, called hands. 
The hands are then packed closely 
-together in what is called bulk, 
when it undergoes a change or a 
sort of fermentation, necessary to develop quali- 
ties which arc not otherwise possessed by the 
leaf. After it has remained in bulk the proper 
time, it is put into boxes or casks for market, 
or, as is often the case, sold while in bulk. 
