The card notes the roads are so good in the tobacco growing district that a farmer might drive as much as 30 to 40 miles to sell his crop at a favourite market. Card 13 deals with the selling of the crop by auction. Stand stuff really, although up to 300 lots per hour are got through and the card is very careful to point out there are enough buyers to ensure the farmer gets a good price for his crop. I expect the farmers were so reassured when the read the back of this particular card. Now the set leaves behind the people that grew the stuff and lets them get on with the work of preparing the next crop and moves onto what happens with the tobacco the ITC has bought.
Tobacco goes from the market to the re-drying rooms.
This is where some tobacco blending takes place as colouration of leaves can alter dramatically depending on the local conditions and it is also the stage sand, dust and dirt is removed from the leaves. The next card shows the machine equivalent to hand stemming, this time though it can be operated by 'one girl' and is 'very simple' to operate. Now the leaves require drying once again as they have been kept in a 'soft' state to avoid getting 'chippy' during the previous processes. The tobacco sticks are sent through compartments heated to about 180 F where most of the moisture is driven out. Then it is cooled by 'powerful fans' and later a little bit of moisture put back into them.