RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES 
OF 
TOBACCO CURED BY THE LEAF-CURE ON WIRE AND THE STALK 
PROCESSES. 
By F. B. CARPENTER, Assistant Chemist. 
INTRODUCTION. 
This bulletin is supplementary to one already published by this 
Station (Bulletin No. 86), entitled “Tobacco Curing by the Leaf Cure 
on Wire, and the Stalk Processes.” It was stated in that bulletin 
that the object of the experiment was “to test the comparative 
merits of the two systems of curing tobacco for market, especially 
of the variety known as yellow tobacco, grown particularly in the- 
States of North Carolina and Virginia—namely, the old-style stalk- 
cure, and the newer method of curing the leaves alone, pulled from 
the stalk as they become ripe. Though not strictly new, public 
attention was specially drawn to the latter plan through the efforts 
of Capt. W. H. Snow, of High Point, N. C., in connection with an 
improved curing barn advocated by him. The main point of dis¬ 
tinction between the two systems of curing is, that in the stalk-cure, 
when the leaves are ripe on the stalk, the whole stalk is cut down, 
and, with the accompanying leaves, is cured on. a stick in the old- 
style log-barn. In the leaf-cure system, the leaves, as they mature 
on the stalk, are cut off (commencing at the bottom), stuck on wires, 
and cured, while the stalk is still standing in the field. The cure is 
made either in an old-style log-barn, or, better, in a patented barn 
of improved construction, known as the Snow barn, which possesses 
principles that must commend themselves for their simplicity and 
scientific thoroughness.” 
Bulletin No. 86 dealt with the merits of the two systems with refer¬ 
ence to the comparative values as influenced by quantity, quality, 
expense of management, etc., while this bulletin discusses the chemi¬ 
cal compositions of the tobacco as cured by the two methods. 
In dealing with tobacco from a chemical standpoint, we have first 
to consider the conditions which surround the plant during its 
various stages of growth, and then the changes which take place in 
the various processes of curing, fermentation, and manufacture. Of 
all the conditions which influence the quality of tobacco, there is 
probably none which makes more marked variations than that of 
climate. The plant has a widespread cultivation, extending through 
