Amj™"i8Arm'}  Tobacco  Culture  in  Ohio.  255 
After  collecting  the  tobacco,  it  is  taken  to  the  tobacco  house,  and 
strung  upon  sticks  (by  means  of  a  large  needle  and  twine),  called 
"  tobacco  sticks."  Women  are  employed  for  this  work,  who  string 
from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  sticks  per  day.  It 
is  then  placed  on  the  tobacco  scaffold,  in  the  open  air,  until  wilted, 
when  it  is  placed  in  the  "  tobacco  house,"  where  a  gradual  heat  is  ap- 
plied until  it  assumes  a  yellow  color.  A  higher  degree  of  heat  is 
then  immediately  applied,  for  twenty-four  hours,  to  "  kill  it,"  as  the 
farmer  terms  it,  meaning  the  expulsion  of  all  moisture  from  the  leaves. 
The  doors  of  the  house  are  then  thrown  open,  and  the  floor  often 
sprinkled  with  water,  in  order  that  the  leaves  may  again  become  suffi- 
ciently moistened  to  permit  manipulation.  It  is  now  rolled  in  bundles 
ready  for  market. 
The  main  object  sought  for  by  tobacco  growers  is  the  color,  which 
is  influenced  by  various  causes,  among  the  leading  ones  are  the  modes 
of  drying  and  the  soil  upon  which  it  was  raised,  as  the  first  crop  of 
tobacco  on  any  soil  is  invariably  the  finest.  The  "  yellow  spangle  " 
is  considered  the  finest  color,  and,  consequently,  brings  the  highest 
price.  The  "  light  red  "  also  stands  high  in  the  list,  and  is  deemed 
a  valuable  color.  There  are  several  other  colors  beside  the  two 
named  which  go  to  make  up  the  tobacco  seen  in  commerce. 
Ashes. — After  careful  experiments  with  an  extra  fine  quality  of  tobacco, 
furnished  by  an  Ohio  grower,  the  following  results  have  been  ob- 
tained, being  the  relative  per  cent,  yielded  by  bottom,  middle  and  top 
leaves : 
Bottom  leaves  18  4,  middle  leaves  14*2,  top  leaves  14*8  per  cent. 
In  obtaining  these  results,  the  tobacco  was  dried  by  means  of  heat 
until  it  ceased  to  lose  weight,  one  thousand  grains  were  then  weighed 
out  and  subjected  to  smothered  combustion,  until  charred,  after  which 
they  were  completely  incinerated,  and  the  product  again  Weighed, 
yielding,  respectively,  184,  142  and  148  grains  of  ashes. 
These  amounts  are  much  smaller  than  obtained  by  other  experimen- 
tors,  and  I  can  only  attribute  the  different  results  to  the  following, 
namely  :  The  bottom  leaves  of  tobacco  invariably  grow  on  or  near 
the  ground,  and,  tobacco  being  of  a  very  glutinous  nature,  become 
strongly  impregnated  with  the  soil.  This  foreign  matter  adheres  so 
tenaciously  to  the  leaves  that  it  cannot  all  be  removed,  nor  can  it  be 
recognized  with  the  naked  eye.    In  view  of  this  fact,  it  is  but  fair  to 
