Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1900-04-06

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II every 100 farmers think they ave
done. when the fact is that at this stage
tha tobacco has no commercial "a'ue
whatever, and Is nor fiuto use at all, be-
ing too raw. harsh and strong.
Now begins the real curing process, up
on She success uf which depends the val
ue OF the entire crop, and nowhere else
is Judgment and perhaps we ought to
say, experience, OF such Importance as
during the successive stages OF this pro-
cess. lii fact nothing but experience
can lead to perfect success, and
thai oitan fall. far short. No areo,fic,
,utalllDie method or test can be given
but each one must learn for himself: LIST
the ideal results he wishes to obtain, and
2nd, how to obtain them. He may be
seeking one result and obtain entirely
a different one to that desired. ETC.: and
so We might 60 on for pages, but we
will have to let the reader learn a few
pages here as the writer did. for though
We viii, help all we can, experience only
can make perfect.
After the tobacco is handed, it must
be placed in bulk, and prefer box ten
feet long and four feet deep and feet
wide. set on the floor and banked up
| with chaff or straw to within 8 inches
| of the top all around. Put the hands OF
! tobacco in the box with the butt ends
! outward all around until the box is full,
or until you have at least 300 pounds
and cover the boz tight And let me
say right here, that il You do not have
at least 800 pounds, do not try this
plan, but try the second method given.
Now eacn variety OF tobacco will be Diff
ferent. though somewhat similar, to all
other kinds and some will heat up
quicker than others. This fermentation
is the secret of the whole process and
must be watched closely. Insert
thermometer until you are able to tell
with hand deep into the box and when
the heat reaches 1902 you must pile it
all over in reverse order, bottom on
top, etc., airing and shaking it out as
you 60. Keep tbfs up until the tobacco
refuses to heat up any more and You
have done all you can do. The tobacco
may be taken out and examined,
selected, graded and classed, and boxed
away in a cool place, cellar is the
best, and 1T will remain iii case indefin-
itely. But remember, that at any time
during the fermenting or rfpening up
process, il you should catch the tobacco
at any color you want, or at Il desired
strength or firmness Of leaf, or to cut it
short. whenever it Just suits you,
COO! it Off by shaking up packing in
small boxes so it will not ferment any
more, and you have it. To produce any
particular size, or Intensity OF any de-
sired grade or lind, requires skill, in
genuity, patience, Judgment, and be-
lore perfection is reached, experience. As
much depends on knowing when to stop
as on how much to do, or rather how
much to let the tobacco do, if you have
specific end in view. Now If you only
have 25, so or 100 pounds to cure. try
this plan, Put the hands OF tobacco in
to boxes or barrels, packing tightly with
the weight OF an ordinary man tramp
| ing it in; laying a board on the tobacco
| aud standing on it about every foot OF
filing will answer. Dig a hole in the
manure pile four tunes as large as what
you intend to put iuto it, and fill it three
quarters full OF clean straw or hay leav-
ing space in the center for your box or
barrel. Then put in whatever contains
the tobacco, and cover it up with care,
so that the manure does not come in
contact with the package containing the
tobacco. Cover all over with fresh or
hot iermenting horse manure, to depth
OF 1T least six inches. Leave alone for
about IL hours; then examine and then
proceed according to to the previous
directions. BE careful as twill heat up
much quicker, and burn and spoil tsoon-
er if neglected. under this method, than
| by the former, but if proper care is. ia.
ken, the results will be nearly the same.
Also, by this process of artifcially fore.
ing the fermentation, it will not stop at
the right time, OF it's own accord, but
will will go on heating until the topac
co burns" out dry and lifeless, and ut
: terly spoiled.
) This last method is, OF course, the
cheapest, and the only successful
one for the small grower that we cal
suggest. Nor is there any method
given in the government circulars ant
bulletins that can equal this, for the to-
bacco raised up here. This last asser
tionwe have proved true to our complete
satisfaction by a long series OF tests al
ways ending in sorrowful disappoint
ment. There is no danger OF the tobac
co tainting from the manure in thi!
, process, las an odorous vapor is ex