1020 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 27, 
CURING TOBACCO. 
G. 8., Oxford, N. J .—Could you give me 
information as to curing tobacco? I raised 
a' nice lot of it, and have had no experience 
how to cure it. I cut the tobacco stalks 
with the leaves on them Just a few days 
before the frost come; hung them in the 
corn crib and in the barn, with the tops 
down. The leaves are very large. I would 
like to have some cigars made of them. 
Please tell me how to take the nicotine out 
of the tobacco and what course I shall take 
to get it ready to have the cigars made. 
I was surprised at the height it grew ; it 
was seven feet tall, with very large leaves 
and very clean, not a worm hole in them? 
If I can make a success this time I will 
try it on a larger scale next year. 
Ans.—T he curing of tobacco is an 
art that can only be learned by practice. 
The methods vary greatly in different 
sections and with different varieties 
of tobacco. In the Southern Coast 
region, where the bright yellow cigar¬ 
ette and pipe tobacco is grown, the 
leaves are pu'led as they mature, and 
are laced on rods and hung in barns 
made for the purpose. These barns have 
furnaces and flues, and the curing is 
done rapidly by fire heat at a tempera¬ 
ture of from 100 to 150 degrees. It takes 
skill and experience for flue curing, and 
the method varies with each barnful, 
owing to the condition of the leaves. 
When cured, the tobacco is taken down 
and packed in bulk to sweat, and the 
heaps are repacked more than once, and 
then the leaves are sorted over and the 
different qualities tied in bunches or 
“hands” for market. Where the dark 
shipping tobacco is grown, the plants 
are cut and hung in houses made for 
the purpose, with ventilators on the 
sides, so that the curer can regulate the 
degree of moisture, and' constant atten¬ 
tion is needed, and a great deal of ex¬ 
perience and skill, to avoid damage from 
“pole burn” and other troubles. The 
cigar tobacco of Connecticut is packed 
in boxes for developing its flavor, and 
is not marketed for a year. The only 
way to learn how to cure tahacco is to 
get an expert to teach you, and then stay 
with him and learn the method. I have 
never known anyone to become a good 
tobacco curer by any method by written 
directions. If there -is any way to take 
the nicotine out I have never learned it. 
When your tobacco is fairly well cured, 
take it down in good weather, when it is 
limp from moisture, strip and pack it in 
a heap to sweat, placing weights on it 
till it is well cured. Go over to Lancas¬ 
ter County and see how the growers 
there handle their tobacco for cigars and 
you can learn more about this class of 
tobacco than anyone can tell you. 
w. F. MASSEY. 
Keeping Manure in Dry Weather. 
C. B. S., Forest Grove, Ore .—I want 
some information about the best way to 
handle a lot of manure. I get about 20 
tons per month from two livery stables, 
and 1 have to take it away from the stables 
three times per week, and have 30 acres, 
with less than a mile to haul to put it on. 
I have been spreading it as it came from 
the stables, hut it appears as if I lose a 
large part of the fertilizer during t he hot 
Summer by evaporation, as we have very 
little rain from the first of July to Octo¬ 
ber. The manure has considerable straw 
with it, that lias been used as bedding and 
has absorbed all the liquids. What is the 
best plan to handle the manure during the 
hot months? The remainder of the year 
I spread it fresh from the stables. At 
present I am putting it on about an acre 
of strawberry plants; the rows are three 
feet apart, and I pile the manure as high 
between the rows as I can without cover¬ 
ing tlie plants, and will use it as a mulch 
this Winter and in the Spring. I expect 
to have it so thick that the weeds will 
have a hard time of it before the berries 
are picked, and 1 shall cut the tops of the 
plants off and rake the leaves and straw 
in rows and burn them, and get ready to 
fight the big crop of weed seeds that I 
have sown. 
Ans.— There will be very little loss 
of this manure during a drought. It 
will dry up as hard as chips and remain 
so. There will be but little loss by 
fermentation from this dried manure, 
for moisture as well as heat is needed 
to cause the ferment. You could pile 
the manure in heaps, stamp it down 
hard, and cover it ail over with a coat 
of dry soil, hut this labor of handling 
will probably cost more than you would 
lose by spreading as you haul. The 
safest place for this manure is in the 
soil with some living crop. We should, 
except in a case of mulching, plow 
the manure under as fast as possible, 
and plant something. If out of season 
for regular farm crops, sow clover, 
rape, rye or vetch to be pastured or 
plowed under. The strawberries will 
respond to that mulching. Do not put 
too much manure over the plants so 
that they will smother. 
Fixing a Lawn; Grapes. 
J. F. C., Charlotte’s Halt, ltd. — 1 . Our 
lawn is much injured by bare spots. What, 
can be done now (o make a good lawn by 
the Spring? What time should it he top- 
dressed? Should 1 use stable or cow ma¬ 
nure? 2. Will you toil me what to do with 
my grapevines? They bore heavily, hut all 
the fruit fell off (nearly) before they 
ripened. Fine luxuriant vines. Closely 
pruned last Spring. 
Ans. — 1 . Dig the bare spots in the 
lawn and manure them and sow at once 
a mixture of equal parts of Red-top and 
Kentucky Blue grass seed at rate of 
five bushels per acre. That is, make the 
ground gray with the seed, and rake it 
in well. In Spring top-dress the lawn 
as soon as growth starts with nitrate 
of soda at rate of 200 pounds per acre, 
when the leaves are dry, to prevent 
scalding them. 2. Probably your grapes 
are suffering from the black rot dis¬ 
ease. You must spray them in early 
Spring with Bordeaux Mixture, and re¬ 
peat it at intervals of 10 days till the 
fruit is half grown, but do not spray 
when in bloom. Prune in Spring just 
as the buds •swell, so that the leaves will 
prevent bleeding, as they soon start 
then. Fertilize with acid phosphate and 
muriate of potash mixture, known in the 
trade as 10-5. w. f. massey. 
SHORT STORIES. 
Scraping Bark of Trees. 
Is there any advantage in scraping dead 
hark from apple trees, more than for ap¬ 
pearance? It makes them look as if they 
were cared for, and “ship shape,” hut docs 
it increase -their growth or productiveness? 
Of course in visiting and inspecting such 
trees one may And and destroy enemies 
otherwise overlooked. Does it pay to scrape 
hundreds of trees? H. 
Boston, Mass. 
The chief advantage is in destroying many 
insects or their eggs. -Some of these pests 
winter under the rough hark scales. When 
those are scraped off and a coat of white¬ 
wash or of lime and sulphur put on there is 
a good slaughter of insects. 
Apple Pomace Around Trees. 
I have a chance to get some crushed 
apples that I put around my apple trees. 
Do you think it would be good for any other 
purpose on the ground? J. O. 
Succasunna, N. J. 
Apple pomace makes a good mulch for 
apple trees, hut if we used much of it we 
should scatter lime over it. In heavy quan¬ 
tities alone it will sour the ground. It can 
also be mixed in the manure pile. 
Softening a Cowhide. 
What will soften a cowhide? It is as 
hard as a board. It was tanned with some 
lightning tanner. It is a very good all 
black hide, except being so hard. 
East Fairfield. Vt d. t. 
Try rubbing the side next the flesh with 
coarse sandpapw until the hard glazed sur¬ 
face is broken. This will usually soften a 
hide unless some radical mistake in tanning 
has been made. 
Slow-growing Peach Trees. 
I planted out laSt Spring about 300 peach 
trees. They all have grown about a foot 
or so. None died. The land is too stony 
for cultivation, and weeds grew up as high 
js the trees, which 1 cut down to about 18 
inches when I planted them. I consider the 
growth of one foot not enough. Shall I put 
manure around them, or do you think one 
foot growth is all right? Next Spring I 
intend to turn the chickens into this orchard 
19 keep down the weeds. Will that he all 
right? Of course I’ll cultivate around 
trees. b. m. m. 
Burlingham. N. Y. 
We should want more growth. In such a 
situation we plan to cut the weeds several 
times during the season and pile them 
around the trees. Do not let those weeds 
grow as you have done. You won' right in 
cutting tlie trees hack. If you can give 
these trees a fair mulching with manure 
next Spring do so. Do not put the manure 
up close to the trunks. How many chickens 
will you turn into the orchard? A few 
will do no harm, hut a large flock will do 
the trees more harm than good. Peach trees 
cannot stand high feeding. When planted 
in a chicken yard they usually grow too fast 
and fall victim to cold weather or split 
their bark. Tut the weeds with mower or 
scythe .and pile around the trees. 
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