^septTisJs""1'}      Tobacco  Cultivation  in  Virginia.  429 
not  m)l>re,  than  its  opposite.    Experienced  persons  generally  judge  by 
the  color  and  feel  of  the  leaf.    For  cutting,  a  sharp  knife,  resembling 
that  of  a  shoemaker,  is  used,  and  the  plants  are  cut  close  to  the  ground, 
being  severed  with  one  blow.     After  being  cut  the  plants  are  not 
gathered  immediately,  but  are  allowed  to  remain  on  the  ground  long 
enough  to  wilt  but  not  to  be  burnt  by  the  sun.     The  main  stocks  of 
the  plants  are  now  split  about  half  way  up,  and  the  plants  are  then 
placed  astraddle  "  tobacco  sticks,"  which  are  five  or  six  feet  long  and 
have  been  prepared  for  the  purpose,  and  are  thus  carried,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drying,  to  the  "  tobacco  house,"  a  building  erected  expressly  for 
the  purpose.  This  house  is  built  of  logs,  generally  with  sufficient  space 
between  them  to  admit  of  a  circulation  of  air ;  it  has,  besides,  ventila- 
tors in  the  roof  and  rows  of  large  poles,  placed  five  or  six  feet  apart, 
reaching  from  one  side  of  the  house  to  the  other,  the  rows  extending 
from  the  roof  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the  floor,  resembling  somewhat 
the  rafters  for  the  floors  of  a  dwelling-house.    The  sticks  containing 
the  plants  are  placed  across  the  poles,  one  row  being  filled  up  and  then 
another,  and  so  on  until  the  building  is  full.     A  fire  is  now  kindled  in 
the  middle  of  the  floor  and  kept  up  without  intermission  for  four  or 
five  weeks,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  tobacco  is  generally  suffi- 
ciently dried.    During  all  this  time  it  must  be  watched  closely,  the 
door  being  closed  and  a  free  circulation  of  air  allowed  through  the 
ventilators  ;  sometimes,  however,  a  shorter  time  is  required  for  drying. 
When  the  tobacco  is  dried,  a  damp  day  being  selected,  it  is  taken  down 
preparatory  to  stripping.    The  leaves  are  all  stripped  from  the  plants 
and  thrown  into  a  heap  by  one  man  ;  another  then  assorts  them,  plac- 
ing the  most  inferior  in  one  parcel  by  themselves,  the  next  in  quality 
likewise  together,  and  so  on  through  the  entire  pile.    Each  parcel  is 
done  up  separately  into  "  hands,"  as  they  are  called.    This  consists  in 
gathering  up  the  leaves,  spreading  them  out,  placing  them  one  upon  the 
other,  and,  when  five  or  six  ouces  in  weight  have  thus  been  obtained, 
tying  the  parcel  around  at  the  end  with  another  leaf,  which  has  been 
twisted  to  form  a  string.     Having  been  all  made  up  into  "  hands,"  the 
tobacco  is  packed  preparatory  for  shipment  to  market ;  sometimes, 
however,  when  the  market  is  not  far  distant,  it  is  not  packed,  but  simply 
transported  loosely  in  wagons,  and  then  constitutes  u  loose  tobacco." 
It  is  packed  sometimes  in  large  boxes,  but  generally  in  large  hogsheads. 
The  packing  is  done  in  the  following  manner  :  A  person  gets  into  the 
