Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-10-18
How to Cure Tobacco.

When my tobacco is hung in my
barn, 1t is no better than hundreds of
other tobacco-growers in this county
at that stage, but sell my crop from
four to six dollars per hundred higher
than they do. Why is this so? Be-
cause one is cured and handled as it
should be, while the others have not
been. / have barn eighteen feet
high; don't crowd my tobacco on the
sticks, nor do l crowd the sticks. /
want room for tho hot air to pass up
through the tobacco. Barns should be
built tight except at the top, where
there should be plenty Of ventilation,
so that the damp air can pass out as
the hot, dry air pushes it up, and there
should be some ventilation on the
ground, to be partially closed in high
winds.
When my tobacco ripens fast and
pushes me, Iuse scaffolds to gain time.
but | prefer to house it as l cut, if |
can, as l don't like sun-burnt tobacco.
II my tobacco has been on the scaffold
for two or three days, when hung in
the barn it will be ready for slow fires,
but when hung in the house from the
field, it should have a few days to yell
low. Then slow fires commence in
either case. Before this year had al
ways fired with open fires; this year 1
used no open fires, curing my crop
from the start with curors. Ny aim
was TO furnish the same heat at the
different stages as l had done here
tofore with open fires. The curers
worked admirably in furnishing
slow and steady heat with
out any attention except to fill
with wood and cut the draft down.
Then | went out to work. | increase
my heat as soon as tobacco is yellow
enough to stand hot fire without in
juring. At this stage | want heat
enough to prevent house-burn and no
more, If can tell what that is, and
think can if the tobacco is hung so
the heat can pass up without hindrance.
One hundred and forty degrees will be
ample for the first twenty hours, the
next twelve hours twenty degrees less,
and as the danger of house-burn be-
comes less decrease the heat. In. two
and half or three days the leaf will be
dry. Then II the weather is dry
stop firing; If wet, dry half the
stem before the fires are drawn.
When the leaf comes in case
| let it remain in that condition
about two days; then | fire up the
furnaces with a slow fire and run them
two to three weeks, until the stem and
stalk are cured up. During this time
| only saw the curers morning, noon
and night, when / wooded up, and
don't think that l ever had as finely
cured tobacco as / have this year, and
know | cured it with less than half
the labor and no uneasiness about fire
You see that my aim is to give the
stalk all the chances possible to iced
the leaf. The stalk is feeding the leaf
under the slow fire at the start, and
keeps il up until the leaf gets dry under
the hot fire. When the fire is drawn
the stalk brings the leaf in case and
continues to feed it. both in quality
and weight while the slow fires are
preventing the evaporation from the
leaf, as would be the case when air
cured. and slowly brings the curing to
a close. Why is leaf of tobacco.
broken from the stalk, when cured.
chsffy? Because it had no stalk to feed
it
Crowd a barn iull of tobacco, jam the
sticks close together. and then it will
require big heat to save it ALI small