Tobacco: Growing, Curing, & Manufacturing / A Handbook for Planters in All Parts of the World

by Unknown

The maturity of tobacco is defined by Schneider as when the leaves, which have hitherto been green, on holding them “against the sun, show yellowish, reddish, or brownish spots, feel sticky, and when bent break off short and clean. Before this period sets in, the drying-house should be in good order. This house is built to give room for the free hanging up of the tobacco, so that it is protected from the sun, wind, and rain, and is allowed to dry by the free circulation of the air. Any building, therefore, will answer which has a good roof, boarded sides, and enough windows and air-holes (which can be closed at will) to keep up a mild circulation of air inside, and also to keep out strong and too quick drying winds. If the tobacco is grown on a large scale, the house should have large doorways to drive a waggon in and out. There must be sticks all over the house, either cross or lengthwise, and these sticks must be ready and in their places. Now the work of harvesting the crop is commenced on a clear or cloudy but not rainy day. The mature plants (those not ripe are left longer on the field if not too late in the season) are cut off near the ground, two of them tied together by the butt-ends and hung up in the field on riders, which rest on two forks fastened in the ground, and they are left there until evening to wilt; then they are brought to the drying-house and hung up. The tobacco is hung up on the upper sticks first, and the work continued downward; care is taken that the sticks are 6–8 inches apart, also that the plants are not too near together on the sticks, because the air should have free passage among the plants, and when they touch or rub against each other, unsightly spots are produced. The sticks must be pretty wide, so that the two plants which are tied together, and one of which hangs on each side, are held well apart. Later, when the tobacco has dried off somewhat, the sticks and plants may be moved a little nearer to each other; but the plants on the upper sticks must not touch those on the lower; they should be so arranged that one lower stick is just in the middle of the space between two upper ones.”

Another method of harvesting is recommended by Schneider for those “who cultivate tobacco on a small scale, or who have hands and time enough. As all the leaves on the plant do not ripen at the same time, but the under leaves are always a little earlier than the upper ones, they may gather the crop in the leaf, that is, taking only the matured leaves from the stalk; this must be done daily, and so long as there are leaves on the stalk. In this way the crop will be harvested slower, and it will cost more, but the tobacco will be of more even quality and better. The leaves are strung on strings instead of being hung up on sticks, with the same care and precautions as recommended for hanging up the whole plants. After the leaves are off, the stalks must be cut off or pulled up, for they would still vegetate, and needlessly take away nourishment from the soil. No more tobacco, leaves or plants should be cut than can be taken to the drying-house and hung up the same day.”

Perry Hull’s instructions commence with a caution that the plant should never be cut while the dew is on the leaves; “but wait until it is off, say 10 o’clock, and what tobacco is cut from that time until 2 o’clock, if the day is hot, will need close attention. In short, the whole operation, from cutting in the field, to the hanging upon the poles in the barn, needs care, as a little carelessness or inattention will damage many dollars’ worth. No hand should be allowed to handle it, who is unwilling to use care, and perform every operation just as directed, or else by breaking of leaves, or sticking fingers through them, &c., he may do more damage than his wages amount to. The plant to be cut should be taken by the left hand, not carelessly by the leaves, but carefully by the stalk, and as carefully leaned over, to give a chance to use the axe, which should have a handle about one foot long. Cut the plant with one blow, laying it carefully down, with the top to the sun; if it is laid otherwise, the leaf will burn before the main stalk of the leaf will wilt sufficiently to admit of handling. Even in that position, it may burn unless attended to, but not as soon. After lying until pretty well wilted, and before burning, turn it over and wilt the other side. When so wilted that the main stem has lost most of its brittleness, load as explained above; taking hold of the butt of the stalk, lay them carefully upon the arm, and again as carefully upon the load. If the day be very hot, use expedition in getting to the shed, else, if the distance be great, the load may heat, which will spoil the leaves for anything but fillers.”

When the plants are carried into the shed, “if quite warm, they should be left only one plant deep upon the floor and scaffolds. If the day be cool, and they are to be hung up soon, they may lie much thicker. They should never be hung upon a pole less than 5 inches in width. If sawed pieces are used, saw them just that; if poles are used, see that they are about that; for if anything of less width is used, the plants will hang so close, that the chances of ‘pole-burn’ are greatly increased. They are fastened to the pole by a half hitch. (Their position is represented by Fig. 9 on p. 95.) It requires two hands to hang them, one to hand them, another to tie them. The poles should be about 18 inches apart, and the number hung upon a 12-foot pole will depend upon the size, from 24 to 30, so regulating them, that when thoroughly wilted, they will scarcely touch each other. If hung thicker than this, a little unfavourable weather will cause more or less pole-burn, sweat and mould. After the tobacco is hung, the building should be so thoroughly ventilated that there will be a circulation of air through every part. The ventilators should be kept open during all fair weather, until well cured down. During storms, shut the doors and exclude as much wet as possible; being cautious to give it a thorough ventilation again, as soon as the rain ceases. When it is cured enough to be husky in dry weather, exclude all hard winds, that will crack and damage the leaves. When the leaves are so much cured, that there is nothing about them green but the stem, a moderate quantity of wet weather will not injure it, but rather improve the colour; as the sap of the stalk works through the stems into the leaves, during moist weather until the stalk has been well frozen; after this takes place, the tobacco should be picked.”

White estimates that in “the course of 2 or 3 weeks after topping, the plants will begin to ripen, which may be known by the change in colour of the leaf. It will look spotted with spots of lighter green, a yellowish green. When fully ripe the leaf may be folded together, and moderately pressed without breaking or cracking. Now is the time to begin to harvest it. All this is supposed to take place before there is any appearance of frost, as a very light frost often does great damage. All touched by it is ruined, and good for nothing. The crop must be cut and hung, even if not fully ripe, before any frosts occur. If there are strong appearances of a frost, you can secure the crop by cutting it down, and putting it either under your sheds, or by putting it in piles, not over 1 foot deep, in the field, and covering with straw. It is well to let it stand, if not fully ripe, as long as it can safely, for the cool nights have a tendency to thicken up the leaves. The cutting is best performed with a hay-knife, with a sharp, rounding point, in the following way: stand at the right-hand side of the plant or row; with the left hand grasp the stalk down 2 or 3 leaves from the top and lean it back on the row; now, with the point of your cutter held in the right hand 2–3 inches from the stalk, close to the root under the bottom leaf, with a sudden stroke or dab, sever the same from the root; lay it gently down back in a line with the row. Proceed in like manner to cut what you can take care of, and not get injured by sunburn. Have two rows of butts together, lying the same way for after-convenience. This cutting is done after the dew is off in the morning, or in the afternoon. Let it remain until the top side is somewhat wilted; then commence to turn it over. Step between the two rows with the butts lying toward you, and with each hand take a plant on either side; raise them from the ground, and by twisting the hands in or out, turn the plants, laying them either to the right or left, as most convenient, at right angles to their former position. Go through with the 2 rows, and you have the next 2 with the butts the other way; take these and lay the tips directly opposite those first turned, and you have an alley, with the butts of the plants of two rows on either side, which will be convenient to drive in to load. When wilted sufficient to be handled without breaking, if in the forenoon, you can load it from the rows as they lie; if in the afternoon, it is best to put in hakes, which is done by putting five plants at the bottom, and on these four, decreasing one on each layer, and terminating with one on the top; this will protect it from dew and wet. The best cart for hauling the tobacco is a one-horse waggon, geared long, with merely a platform resting on the axles. Such a cart can be driven between the rows and loaded from either side, having the butts of the plants uniformly one way, and laid crosswise on the platform. Great care should be used, in all the handling, not to bruise, break, or tear the leaves. Having cut all, excepting your seed-plants, strip all the leaves from these, and set a stake to each to tie it up to; let the stake be a foot taller than the plant; it will answer to keep a piece of old carpet from breaking down the stalk when you wish to cover it up on cold nights. Let the seed-plants stand till the pods or bolls are cured to a brown, and the seed is ripe; then cut off the top of the seed-stalk, and hang it up in some dry and safe place, where it will be ready to shell and use the next season; only the ripest and best pods should be used.”

Libhart alludes to the existence of several ways of hanging cut tobacco plants, but specifies the two following as the best and shortest: “first, splitting and hanging it upon laths or poles and leaving it to partially cure in the field; secondly, nailing it to rails with lathing-nails, at once in the shed. The former method, for high northern latitudes, is by far the best, as it will cure in a much shorter time (and thus prevent the destruction of the crop by freezing in the shed), by the drying of the pith of the stalk, which is the main reservoir of moisture. It is performed as follows:—Have a chisel about 1 foot long and 3 inches broad, the sharp end not bevelled on one side, but coming to an edge by a gradual taper on both sides (a common tenon-saw will do pretty well); place the edge of the chisel in the centre of the stalk upon the end where it has been topped, and push it down, guiding it in its course so as not to break or cut off any leaves, to within 3–4 inches of the ground; the stalk may then be cut off with a hatchet, or with the chisel if it be made pretty strong. The splitting may be done in the morning when the leaves are too brittle to admit of the stalk being cut down, and then when the sun has sufficiently wilted the leaves, the stalk may be cut and left to lie until it will bear handling without breaking the leaves. The lath being previously prepared, 4 feet in length and about 1 inch in thickness on one edge, and ½ inch on the other, and 2 inches broad (or poles cut in the forest will answer pretty well); then have trestles prepared high enough to allow the stalks to hang suspended without touching the ground, and set far enough apart in the field to admit of the lath reaching from one to another; now place the stalks of tobacco upon the lath (previously laid across the trestles), by slipping them over and down until they will hang perpendicular and 6–8 inches apart, so they will merely touch, without crowding too much. It may be left hanging thus exposed to the weather until the leaves are so wilted that the stalks hang apart without touching, and the lower leaves begin to dry, when it is taken off the trestles, each lath entire, and laid upon a waggon and hauled to the drying-shed.”

Before the tobacco is ready for harvesting, Hudson suggests the preparation of “a supply of sticks for hanging. Sticks 4 feet long and 1 inch square are most convenient; 12 sticks to every 100 plants will be sufficient. For sun-curing, there should be a shed built at one or more convenient points of the patch. This may be done by placing posts in the ground to support the poles, as represented in Fig. 8. The poles a being for the support of the smaller poles c, upon which the tobacco-sticks are placed, and b for the cover, when necessary that it should be shedded.”

Fig. 8.

Mitjen’s translator gives the following account of the Cuban practice. “Tobacco should be cut during the wane of the moon; and although most vegueros say that it is impossible to do this, because the leaves commence to ripen both during the new and the full moon, and would be over-ripe before its wane, we can, nevertheless, assert that we know persons who never cut their tobacco during the first quarter, or when rain has made it again green. These persons have never experienced any difficulty; rather, on the contrary, they are those who always obtain the best prices and the greatest money results. Cutting tobacco during the first quarter of the moon, or when vegetation is renewed in the leaf, is one of the principal reasons why the leaf becomes pricked with holes, and this very frequently even before it is taken from the plantation to the market. The system generally observed is, in cutting tobacco, to take off, at once, all those parts of the plants which may be really or apparently ripe, and to load up the poles indiscriminately, without any division between the pairs of leaves (mancuernas). This system is highly prejudicial. The leaves of the same plant are not all of the same quality, neither do they all at the same time acquire the same degree of ripeness. Those of the crown, or the pairs at the top of the plant, immediately next the flower or seed, receive the sun direct on their upper surface, and are the first to ripen, whereas the lower ones, being shaded by the upper ones, remain still in an unripe state; moreover, the lower leaves at the foot of the plant, and even those of the fifth or fourth pairs (mancuernas), compared with those of the first, second, and third pairs, are inferior in quality, and, comparatively speaking, may be termed leaves without substance. The contact of these leaves with the upper ones frequently occasions putrid fermentation on the poles (cujes) and in the packs (this is vulgarly called sahorno), especially if there is much dampness in the atmosphere. When this misfortune happens in a tobacco curing-house all the weak leaves will be lost, and the strong ones will be so injured that the best quality of capa would turn to tripa, and that of bad consistency.