The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-08-20
THE CURING OF TOBACCO.
CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK
Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer.
The heating of the barn to 40 de-
grees to 115 degrees in the first stages
of curing has been practiced for many
years in all this section, but be sure be-
fore you undertake it thai the tobacco
is not nearer than six feet of the fue;
and be sure not to run the heat high
enough or long enough to coddle the
tobacco, and be sure to let the barn
cool off for at Least six hours before the
steaming process should commence.
1t is worse than useless to undertake
to cure tobacco that has ripened thick
and green on the hill, any other than
of dark red or dark brown color. I
have heard some tobacco curers assert
that they could cure of a yellow color
any tobacco that they could steam to
a yellow. Any tobacco, however un-
ripe or green, may be steamed until
perfectly yellow, but it cannot be cured
so as to retain the yellow color. All
tobacco that has ripened thick and
green on the hill should either be
shingled down on-the ground in shady
grove or hung upon a scaffold for a
few days before being put into the
barn. When thus treated too great q
heat should not be put on or applied at
first, else the tobacco will cure up boDy
and brittle, instead of tough and
leathery, qualities always desirable in
tobacco. But always guard against
letting the tobacco remain until the
stem and fore swell or become des-
tined, and the grain is raised, before
applying the heat. The swelling of
the stem and flores and the raising of
the grain is caused by the fermenta-
tion of the sap and marks the decay of
the plant. When 11O degrees have
been reached keep the foor of the
barn and the wall back of the fues
dampened until 125 degrees have been
reached, taking IL hours to reach that
point. Tobac 60 thus treated will cure
up cherry red, and will be sweet and
tough. By letting tobacco thus cured
remain for some days in an open barn
before closing it up, or packing it
down, greatly improves the uniformity
of the color.
Caring for tobacco after it is cured,
no person can be successful without a
good pack house where to store his
cured tobacco. This should be built on
dry, sunny hillside, if convenient; if
the site is not dry it should be made
so; the house should be set on pillars
or posts so as to admit of the free pas
sage of the wind underneath. Iaahould
have a roof that will not leak drop,
a tongue and grooved fl 1or well pu1
down, or a double one Of thinner plank,
being careful to break the joints. It a
frame building, it should be tightly
ceiled; if made Of logs, it should be
closely chinked and daubed with lime
mortar and then have the caves to pro
iect, and put q bonnet at each end to
keep the mortar from washing out.
The storing room should be filed
with tier poles from within six feet of
the floor to roof, perpendicularly one
above the other, about two feet apart,
with the under or lower poles or tiers
movable, so that when not in use they
may be moved aside; this may be done
easily by placing inside of the wall two
logs for the ends of the movable poles
to rest on. These logs. will be above
the height of the door and out of the
way. If, however, one prefers a high
door, the log at the door may be cut