160 
Some Minor Farm Crops. 
plants, standing, when topped, 3 ft. high, with largest leaves 
measuring 40 in. by 20 in. The harvest, which begins in the 
first or second week of August, is an important stage in the 
cultivation of tobacco, the plants having to be handled with 
the very greatest care, as injury to their leaves lowers their 
value. 
The plants are cut with an axe close to the ground, and 
are then speared on wooden laths — six to each lath — and 
carried to the air-curing sheds on specially constructed carts. 
Formerly, the plants were threaded on string, and then strung 
on bamboo canes, but the laths were found to be much better, 
and, further, they keep the plants from swaying. The air- 
curing sheds are built in sections 40 ft. long by 16 ft. wide, and 
have a total measurement of 808 ft. They are high enough to 
take four tiers of hanging plants, the lowest being about 8 ft. 
from the ground, and the whole is covered with waterproof 
canvas curtains. After six weeks or two months of this curing 
process, the plants are ready for removal to the “ re-handling” 
shed, where the leaves are then stripped from the stalks, graded, 
and made into “hands,” each hand consisting of about twelve 
leaves tied round with a separate leaf. They are next subjected 
to a temperature ranging from 100° to 120°. The leaves at this 
stage are in a brittle state, and before they are in condition for 
packing they have to be placed in a steaming chamber, and the 
steam turned on for one to three minutes. 
Before going into the cost of growing an acre of tobacco, it 
may be interesting to give a list of the varieties of tobacco 
grown at Redfields. The list also shows the acreage under each 
variety in the year 1913 : — 
Variety 
Blue Pryor 
Manilla 
Kentucky 
Yellow Mammoth 
Fredrichsall 
Turkish . 
Red Burley 
Sumatra . 
Dutch 
Wisconsin 
Gold Leaf 
Irish Gold 
Hest er 
Comslock . 
Various . 
Acreage 
15 0 20 
1 0 20 
3 0 27 
0 0 32 
0 0 21 
0 0 29 
4 2 29 
0 0 27 
3 0 12 
10 0 
0 0 30 
0 1 32 
0 0 29 
0 0 31 
0 0 13 
30 0 0 
So far, Blue Pryor has proved to be the best variety at 
Redfields. 
