The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1912-08-16

Of much Importance is the curing of
cigar leaf tobacco, also the handling of
the crop from the time it is picked Or
cut. A grower can injure his tobacco
crop 10 or Is per cent by the simple
process of loading it on rikety wagon
and not handhnggit carefully on the
way to the barn. Even more damage
is easily worked in the barn during the
curing time. AS all the tobacco grow
ers know, the crop can hang in the
shed for many months and not really
cure. 1t can be dried out and yet not
cured. 1t can stand in partially cured
state and later, with a few days of
great humidity, develop pole sweat.
There are any number of things which
tobacco may do in barn other than
cure properly. In recent bulletin is
sued by the United States department
of agriculture on the subject of curing
tobacco the discussion in part is as fol-
lows: The two most important reasons
why artificial heat should be used in
curing practically all tobaccos are that
Cd this affords the only practicable
means of preventing the decay of the
leaf caused by excessive moisture dur
ing wet weather and (O tobacco does
not cure properly at low temperatures,
however favorable the weather may be
otherwise, fact of special Importance
in northern tobacco districts. Where
no heat is used in the barn it frequent
ly happens that even after the curing
is largely completed wet periods of
weather bring the tobacco into such
moist condition that the color is greatly
darkened and the quality of the tobac-
co otherwise injured. If cold weather
prevails during the curing, the leaf
simply dries without otherwise develop
ing the desired properties of cured to-
bacco. The curing of cigar tobaccos
can. never be placed on satisfactory
basis until the process has been rem
dered largely independent OF weather
conditions by the combined use OF artl-
fetal heat and ventilation. During the
first stage of the curing, in which the
yellow color develops, the principal
value of the heat is to maintain fav-
orable temperature in the barn, and
during this period care must be taken
to avoid too rapid drying. 1t is evident
that the barn must be reasonably tight,
so as to prevent the rapid escape of the
heat and moisture. On the other hand,
the barn must have proper means of
ventilation during wet weather, other
wise the drying will be checked and
there will be danger of pole sweat when
the second stage of the curing is reach
ed. To prevent too rapid drying in
cold. dry weather, even with the mini
mum amount of ventilation, the inside
temperature should not be much more
than 10 or II degrees above that of the
outside air. In wet weather differ
ence in the inside and outside tempera
lures of about Is degrees is desirable,
the ventilation also being increased.
With favorable temperatures the nee
essary changes effected in the curing
proceed much faster than is commonly
supposed, even though this is not ap-
parent to the eve, so that when heat is
applied. If the leaf does not become
dry during, say, the first 48 hours, there
is no danger of injuring the color there
after by rapid drying. Under these
conditions the green color LETT IN the
leaf disappears as soon as the cured to-
bacco comes into case few times; IN
fact. in our experiments the best colors
have been obtained from tobacco which
was still quite green when the curing
proper had been completed.