DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 L'POJf 
 
 THE CURING, MANAGEMENT, 
 
 £3D 
 
 ui/nvATio.\ of 
 
 d . J ' 
 
 BY D. G. TUCK, 
 
 i 
 
 tended as a Guide to those who may undertake to carry into effect his 
 Patented System, or Modes of Procedure, for the Curing 1 
 and Drying 1 of that Article. 
 
 TOBACCO ; 
 
 M. D. 
 
 tutored according to the Ac' of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and thirlw-two, by 
 f DAVID G. TUCK, in the Clerk’s ottice of the District Court of the Eastern District uf 
 t Virginia.} 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED BY GALES AND SEATON. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/essayuponcuringm01tuck 
 
4,33. 'Tl 
 
 TW& 
 
 507623 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 My first experiments in the curing of tobacco were 
 made in the year eighteen hundred and twenty-eight. 
 Those experiments, and the conflicting modes of ma- 
 nagement pursued by the planters, even by those who 
 were the most intelligent, soon convinced me that the 
 subject was but very imperfectly understood, and that 
 there was great need of some regular system by which 
 the greater part, if not the whole of a crop, could be 
 so cured as to be of good quality. 
 
 With a view to the discovery of such a system, and 
 under the guidance of those principles, in the economy 
 of vegetables, which are well known and established, 
 numerous and accurate experiments were made in the 
 three succeeding years, from which has resulted the 
 system I now offer. 
 
 D. G. Tuck 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 Of the drying-house or barn — the thermometer — the distribution of 
 the tobacco — the fuel— the stoves or kilns, and flues, for heating the 
 drying-house— the scaffolds, or platforms, for diffusing the heat. 
 
 The house in which the tobacco should be stored 
 away for curing, may be of any figure or dimensions 
 the planter may choose, but the walls and gable ends 
 should be as tight as possible; and the latter, unless 
 tighter than usual, should be lathed, and crammed with 
 dirt or mortar. The roof should be of shingles, or of 
 slabs nailed or pegged to laths; and should have suffi- 
 cient apertures in it, or intervals between the shingles 
 or slabs, for the escape of the vapor arising from the 
 tobacco whilst the process is in operation. Such a 
 roof as is common to barns will answer very well. In 
 roofs already made, if too tight, I would advise that 
 small apertures be made on each side of the ridge- 
 pole, or top; which openings should be so covered as 
 to keep out rain. The door should also be very tight, 
 fitting its facings closely, and having an inside and an 
 outside bolt. Double doors, with an interval of a foot or 
 more between them, one of them opening inside, and 
 the other outside of the house, and both fitting close- 
 ly to the opposite edges of the same facing, would, in 
 all cases, be found advantageous. With such double 
 
6 
 
 doors, the air can be excluded more effectually from 
 the tobacco; the first can be closed before the se- 
 cond is opened, and the process, consequently, can be 
 conducted with the greater accuracy. Open houses, 
 such as are ordinarily used, are extremely objection- 
 able. When tobacco is housed for the purpose of 
 being dried, heat , and not air, is the element which 
 should be employed to effect that object. As soon as 
 the vital principle of the plant is gone, it has no fur- 
 ther need of air beyond the quantity which is unavoid- 
 ably afforded it; all it requires is', that quantity of heat 
 which will dry it in the best manner, and a house suf- 
 ficiently open to permit the escape of its extricated 
 vapors. The tier-poles for supporting the sticks hold- 
 ing the tobacco, may be arranged as the planter 
 chooses; the floor should be level, and one or two 
 windows in the body or gable ends of the house, will 
 be found very convenient for various purposes; and 
 these, like the door, should be tightly fitted. Equi- 
 distant from the corners of the house, and eight or ten 
 feet high, there should be another window, large 
 enough to receive a small pane of glass, which should 
 be fitted in it as closely as possible. This window 
 may be on either side of the house; the side next to 
 the door, however, will be found most convenient. A 
 small opening should be made in the door, or in some 
 other convenient place, for the purpose of viewing, 
 when necessary, the interior of the house. This open- 
 
7 
 
 ing, as well as the windows, should have a tightly fil- 
 ing shutter or stopper. 
 
 The house being in the requisite condition, a ther- 
 mometer should be suspended in the centre of it, 
 eight or ten feet from the floor. It will be best to at- 
 tach it to a string passing round pulleys or rollers, so 
 arranged that the thermometer may be drawn for in- 
 spection towards the small glass window in the side 
 of the house, and passed back to the centre, at plea- 
 sure. One of the pulleys or rollers should be outside 
 of the house, just over the glass, and the other just 
 beyond, or near the thermometer, and the strings 
 around them should fit closely into the holes in the 
 house through which they pass. 
 
 The tobacco should next be stored away, and, if 
 very large and full of sap, six or seven plants will be 
 sufficient for a stick; if very small, ten or twelve; sup- 
 posing the sticks to be four and a half feet long, which 
 is, I believe, the most common length. All very large 
 plants should be cut or split into two at the time of 
 cutting them in the field. When the stalk is very long, 
 it is best to divide them transversely; but when other- 
 wise, longitudinally. Each plant should occupy no 
 more than its due proportion of the stick, and the 
 sticks should be placed from six to twelve inches apart, 
 according to the size and sappiness of the tobacco. 
 A similar space should also be left between the to- 
 bacco and the walls of the house. Hanging it thin, 
 
8 
 
 is of much consequence when the tobacco has a re- 
 dundancy of sap. Care should be taken to avoid 
 bruises, to pull apart all leaves adhering together, 
 and to prevent the tobacco from being in contact 
 ith any thing but the stick that supports it. Whilst 
 storing, a space of a foot or more, should be left be- 
 tween the thermometer and the glass window, so that 
 the former may be drawn backwards and forwards 
 without obstruction. In every instance in which I have 
 used the thermometer, a space of four or five feet 
 square has been left around it, and was extended down- 
 wards to the scaffold or floor. If there should not 
 be tobacco enough to fill the house, the thermometer 
 should first be surrounded by it, in the proper man- 
 ner, and the remainder be equally distributed from 
 the centre. • 
 
 Well dried hickory, or oak, wood should be prefer 
 red as fuel for the process, when it is intended to ad- 
 mit the smoke; when it is to be excluded, other de- 
 scriptions will answer. It will be found best, however, 
 always to have the wood dry, even when the smoke 
 is excluded. 
 
 The next thing for consideration is the heating of 
 the drying house. Any stove or kiln will be sufficient 
 for that purpose, (in which a fire can be made that will 
 raise the temperature of the house to 160 degrees, or 
 thereabout, of Fahrenheit’s thermometer,) under the 
 circumstances and within the period that will be here- 
 
9 
 
 after mentioned. A stove or kiln of the following 
 description will answer well in a house of the ordinary 
 height and size — say of twenty feet square — and com- 
 bines such advantages, in regard to economy and sim- 
 plicity, as to enable any person to use it: Raise a 
 brick or stone pen, with its walls as thin as they can 
 be made, so as to preserve the necessary strength; it 
 may be eight feet long, in the clear, three wide, two 
 deep, and arched over with brick, or any other suit- 
 able material, so as to make it three feet high in the 
 interior, when it is finished. In each side of the kiln 
 or pen, near the floor, there should be five or six 
 holes, equi-distant from each other, and about double 
 the size of a brick, to let out heat when the fire is 
 raised. Its ends should point towards the gable ends 
 of the house, and in each should be an opening for the 
 supply of fuel; and its centre should cover the centre 
 of the floor, or thereabouts. It should be so situated 
 as to afford the greatest facilities for equalizing the 
 temperature of the house when the fire is raised. If 
 the house should be larger, the stove or kiln should 
 be enlarged accordingly, or more kilns must be pro- 
 vided. The heating of the drying house, by this kiln, 
 although much safer to the barn and to the tobacco, 
 and in all other respects better than the mode by open 
 fires, usually adopted, is, nevertheless, in some re- 
 spects, objectionable. When the door is opened for 
 
 the purpose of supplying the fire with fuel, the ad- 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 mission of the atmosphere impairs the equability of 
 the temperature of the house, and, to a slight extent, 
 interferes with the success of the process, particularly 
 when it is conducted without double doors. Besides, 
 when the fire is intense, and fresh fuel is added, it 
 emits a dense, black, sooty smoke, which, in some 
 degree, impairs the value of the tobacco. Except at 
 those times, the combustion is more effectual, and but 
 very little smoke escapes from the kiln. If the barn 
 should be so very tight as to prevent the admission of 
 a sufficiency of air to keep an active flame in the kiln 
 when required, ventilators should be used for that pur- 
 pose. They will, however, be but seldom necessary. 
 
 If it should be desired to exclude the smoke en- 
 tirely, which I think should always be done, it may 
 be easily effected, and the house be sufficiently heated 
 by flues or kilns passing entirely through it. In a 
 house of twenty feet square, and of ordinary height, 
 two flues, with an interior of two feet and a half 
 square, will be sufficient. The arch and walls should 
 bo as {hin as the necessary strength of the flues will 
 allow; and in one end of each should be an opening 
 for the supply of fuel; in the other end, a perpendicu- 
 lar flue or pipe, of brick or metal, eight or nine inches 
 in diameter, and five or six feet long, for the escape 
 of the smoke. Unless the walls be very thin, the 
 transmission of heat through them will be very slow — 
 an inconvenience that may, in some degree, be re- 
 
11 
 
 moved by covering the* kilns wholly, or in part, with 
 sheet iron. The flues, or stoves, should extend in the 
 direction of the gable ends of the house, and be placed 
 on its floor in such a manner as will make them dif 
 fuse the heat most equally. By this mode, however, 
 of raising the heat, much more fuel is required than by 
 any other — perhaps six or eight times the quantity — 
 particularly when the flues are not covered with sheet 
 iron; when thus covered, the quantity of fuel required 
 is very much lessened. This mode is objectionable in 
 other respects. Whenever the wind is high, and ad- 
 verse to the draught of the flues, they cease to draw, or 
 draw very badly, and the tobacco becomes injured by 
 the unavoidable suspension of the process. This dif- 
 ficulty I have known frequently to arise. 
 
 The drying house may be also sufficiently heated 
 by stoves or kilns erected within its walls, so con- 
 structed as to carry off the greater part of the smoke, 
 and require much less fuel than tight flues. Such a 
 kiln or stove as the one first named, supplied with an 
 appropriate pipe, at each end, for' carrying off the 
 smoke, and sheet iron, or other shutters, to close the 
 ends, when required, I have found to answer tolerably 
 well, though liable, in part, to the objections of that 
 kiln. Any mode of raising the heat which makes it 
 necessary to enter the house frequently, is objection- 
 able. Such a kiln, however, is much to be preferred 
 to open fires, or such kilns as admit the smoke and 
 other vapors. 
 
12 
 
 Such scaffolds or platforms should be employed as 
 will diffuse the heat most equably. In a house of 
 twenty feet square, one scaffold, eighteen feet long 
 and ten wide, erected over such a kiln as the one 
 which was first and last described, I have found to 
 answer well. It should be about six feet high, and may 
 be made of rough plank, placed loosely upon poles: 
 the planks, however, should always have an inter- 
 val of one or two inches between them, for the ascent 
 of the heat. Two scaffolds, of the same length and 
 height, and about four feet wide, erected over the flues 
 which have been described, will also answer the in- 
 tended purpose. They may, however, be placed 
 lower, provided there is no danger from the fire: the 
 nearer they are to the flues the better they will oper- 
 ate in equalizing the heat. By raising the fire, and 
 suspending thermometers in different parts of the 
 house, their capacity in this respect may be easily as- 
 certained. This should always be done, particularly 
 when the size or figure of the drying house is differ- 
 ent from the one just named. .Such an experiment, 
 however, never should be made after the tobacco is 
 housed. 
 
 I will again return to the heating of the drying 
 house. In the Fall of eighteen hundred and thirty, I 
 constructed a flue, or flues, for which I obtained let- 
 ters patent of the United States, independent of the 
 patent obtained for the system of curing. These flues 
 
13 
 
 have completely overcome all the difficulties present- 
 ed by those before named. Their draught is not at all 
 dependent upon the direction of the winds: they ex- 
 clude or admit the smoke, as may be preferred; enable 
 the attendant to command promptly any required tem- 
 perature; and very much economise the quantity of 
 fuel, when compared with other flues which exclude 
 the smoke. The following is a description of them, 
 in the words of the specification of the patent: — 
 
 “ The material of which I usually construct the 
 said flues or stoves, is common brick; as, under most 
 circumstances, it is most readily obtained, and less 
 costly than any other. They, however, may be made of 
 stone, iron, fire bricks, slabs, or tiles, made and baked 
 in the manner of brick, or of any other material. The 
 dimensions of my said flues or stoves must be varied 
 to suit the size of the barn, or drying house, in which 
 they are to be used; and they will also admit of con- 
 siderable variation in this particular, in a house of any 
 size, whilst the principle of construction may yet be 
 retained. For the sake of description, I assume cer- 
 tain dimensions, which I have found to answer the in- 
 tention perfectly, but do not intend to establish any 
 limit in this particular. 
 
 “ These flues are to be so constructed that they 
 may be supplied with fuel from the outside of the 
 house, and that the smoke, and other vapors from the 
 fire, which it may*be desirable to exclude from the in- 
 
14 
 
 terior of the building, shall, after passing through the 
 large flue, or stove, in which the fire is contained, to 
 a spot near the centre of the building, return through 
 a second or smaller flue, which may be parallel to, 
 and in contact with, that first named, and be deliver- 
 ed, or have its exit, near the opening for feeding the 
 fire. 
 
 “ Suppose my house to be twenty feet square, and 
 of the ordinary height: near the middle of one end 
 or side of the barn, I make an opening for the mouth 
 of my flue or stove; this flue or stove is a square or 
 arched trunk, about thirty inches in width, and the 
 same in height. It is built horizontally upon the floor 
 of the barn, and extends within it to the distance of 
 about seven feet from the wall. To receive the in- 
 ner end of this flue, a square, or other formed pen, or 
 box, is erected, of brick, or other materials. This pen 
 or box may be four feet in length, and two in width, 
 and of the same height with the larger flue or stove, 
 which terminates in it. It should stand at right an- 
 gles with the flue or stove, which is to enter it in one 
 of its broad sides. The smaller flue, through which 
 the smoke is to return, also opens into this box or 
 pen, alongside of the larger flue, and may return, and 
 pass through the building in the vicinity of the fire- 
 place, or feeding door. This second flue may be 
 made of the same materials with the former, but need 
 not be more than one-fourth of its size. From the 
 
15 
 
 end of it a flue or pipe is erected, perpendicularly, to 
 the height of five or six feet, to serve as a chimney, to 
 furnish a draught and carry off the smoke. The interi- 
 or diameter of this chimney need not exceed seven or 
 eight inches, and an iron plate, or some other flat arti- 
 cle, must be provided to stop the draught, when re- 
 quired, by being placed upon the top of the said flue. 
 
 “ It is manifest, that, in a structure of this kind, a fire 
 may be made, and that the smoke will pass out at the 
 chimney; but, as soon as the wood is charred, and the 
 fire burns clearly, it is intended to admit the heated air 
 into the barn, and to stop the draught through the flue, 
 or chimney. For the purpose of admitting the heated 
 air, the pen or box, before described, is provided with 
 an iron or other door or stopper, opening from it into 
 the barn. This door may be twenty inches square: 
 it may be fixed by hinges, or otherwise, so that it may 
 be opened as soon as the smoke has ceased to escape 
 from the chimney, and, at this time, the top of the 
 chimney may have its cover placed so as entirely, or 
 partially, to stop the draught through it. 
 
 “ A second flue or stove, constructed exactly like 
 the one just described, with all its appurtenances, is 
 to be erected on the opposite side of the barn. The 
 pens or boxes', forming the termination of each of the 
 flues or stoves, will thus leave a passage of about two 
 feet between them, on the centre of the building. 
 
 “ These flues or stoves may be used either sepa- 
 
16 
 
 rately or conjointly; it will be found best, however, 
 always to make a fire in each, as there will then be no 
 interval in which the heated air from the fire may 
 not be admitted directly into the barn. 
 
 “ The manner in which the heat may be regularly 
 distributed, and applied to the curing of tobacco, is 
 fully described in the specification of a patent for a 
 new mode of curing tobacco, which was granted unto 
 ine on the first day of October, eighteen hundred and 
 thirty. To the system, or modes of procedure therein 
 described, these flues or stoves are particularly adapt- 
 ed; but they may also be used when tobacco is cured 
 in the ordinary way. 
 
 “ When flues are carried entirely through a barn, or 
 drying house, the draught cannot be advantageously 
 managed, and most of the heat is lost — a difficulty ob- 
 viated by flues or stoves constructed upon the princi- 
 ple above described. 
 
 “ What I claim, as my invention or discovery, is the 
 application of flues or stoves, constructed upon the 
 within described principle, by which the heated air 
 from the fuel may be admitted directly into the barn 
 or drying house, for the purpose of drying and curing 
 of tobacco, whilst the smoke maybe entirely excluded. 
 I also claim the returning of the draught of the flue 
 or stove, by means of which the draught of the fire is 
 readily and perfectly managed, so as to produce great 
 economy in the use of the fuel. The escape flue, 
 
17 
 
 however, may be carried out at any part of the build- 
 ing, although not with equal advantage. It may, for 
 example, be carried directly through the house, and 
 yet the main object of my patent, that of admitting the 
 heated air, without the smoke, may still be attained.” 
 
 The planter will always find it better to have these 
 flues or stoves covered with sheet or cast iron, and to 
 have the return flues as large, or very nearly, as those 
 in which the fires are contained. He will also find it 
 better to have a shutter to the feeding door of each flue. 
 
 The construction or figure of these flues may be 
 varied in such a manner as to answer the purpose 
 for which the scaffolds are employed, or very nearly 
 so, and thus to supersede their use. One of them, 
 with holes in its sides for letting out heat, and suffi- 
 ciently enlarged to pass all around the house, within 
 four or five feet of its walls, has been found, by a 
 friend of mine, to answer admirably well. The addi- 
 tional expense is the only objection to this variation. 
 
 Instead of constructing the flues in either of the fore- 
 going ways, I have made them in a form still more 
 simple, cheaper, and, so far as I have tried them, 
 have found them to answer equally well. The follow- 
 ing is the plan alluded to: I build a flue, the sides of 
 which are of brick, or other suitable material, and 
 with a covering of sheet iron; which flue I extend en- 
 tirely across the house, from one side to the other. 
 This flue or trunk maybe from thirty inches to three 
 3 
 
18 
 
 feet in height, and about two feet six inches in width, 
 from end to end. It is furnished with a door at each 
 end for feeding the fire; this being done at either 
 or both ends, according to circumstances. Within the 
 walls which fill up the openings at the sides of the 
 house, and form the mason work at each end, I carry 
 up a small chimney, to the height of about two feet, for 
 the escape of smoke, which is allowed to pass through 
 an opening in front, about six inches square. This 
 opening, being at right angles with the ascending part, 
 carries oft'the smoke or sparks directly from the house. 
 
 From the upper part on each side of the main flue, 
 and at each of its ends, I carry down a small flue, 
 opening near the floor of the barn; which opening may 
 be stopped by a brick, or other means. These open- 
 ings are for the purpose of admitting the heated air 
 into the barn, as soon as the wood has ceased to give 
 out smoke, which is done by merely removing the 
 brick, or other stopper. The feeding doors should 
 also, at such a time, be nearly closed, and the open- 
 ings for the escape of smoke perfectly so. 
 
 The sheet iron used for covering the kilns may be 
 made in three or four lengths, and be moveable, mere- 
 ly lying upon the walls of the flue. They will then 
 answer for other drying houses, as they may be re- 
 moved as soon as the leaf is cured, the ignited coals 
 being sufficient to continue the heat for the curing of 
 the stem and stalk. * 
 
19 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Of the degrees of heat or temperature, for curing — their various ef- 
 fects — the different states of the tobacco — and the general principle 
 of the system. 
 
 The degree of heat, or range of temperature, that 
 should be applied in the process, must depend upon 
 the size and substance of the tobacco, its state, and 
 upon the particular quality which the planter may aim 
 to make. When it contains eight or nine leaves to a 
 plant, and the leaves are about twenty-four inches in 
 length, the following table of heat, with such varia- 
 tions as will be hereafter designated, will serve as the 
 best guide in curing the leaf. 
 
 During the first four hours, the mercury in the ther- 
 mometer should be made to rise in the most gradual 
 manner, from its atmospherical altitude, to 100 de- 
 grees, or thereabouts. During the next four hours, it 
 should be made to rise, in like manner, to 110 de- 
 grees, and then, in the same ratio, ten degrees for 
 every four hours, as nearly as can be done, until the 
 leaf is thoroughly dried. A variation of eight or ten 
 degrees from this range of temperature will do but 
 little, if any, mischief, unless persevered in too long; 
 but a greater one should be promptly arrested by the 
 
20 
 
 appropriate means. Removing wood from the fire is 
 a much better mode of effecting this than opening the 
 door. 
 
 The time that will be occupied in drying the leaf, 
 will depend upon its substance, or the quantity of sap 
 to be thrown off. If it should be very thin and well 
 matured, and, of course, contain but little sap, firom 
 twenty to twenty-four hours will generally be sufficient; 
 if otherwise, from twenty-four to thirty hours. The 
 green tobacco, however, loses its sap much more ra- 
 pidly, in proportion to its quantity, than that which is 
 well matured, owing, no doubt, to the sap being more 
 diluted, and the leaf more porous. 
 
 As soon as the process has commenced, the attend 1 - 
 ant should draw the thermometer towards the glass 
 window, to see if it is within the proper limit, and 
 regulate his fire accordingly; after which, he may 
 watch its progress through the hole in the door, re- 
 placing the shutter after each observation. When he 
 goes in to supply the fire with fuel, or for any other 
 purpose, the door should be cldisd instantly, and se- 
 cured by the inside bolt. The same precaution should 
 be taken when returning; never suffering it to stand 
 open a moment longer than is absolutely necessary 
 for passing and repassing. The frequent admission 
 of the air, when the vapor arising from the tobacco is 
 passing through the roof of the house, is always ob- 
 jectionable, particularly when the tobacco is extreme- 
 
ly yellow; by such admission, the escape of the vapor 
 is checked, it becomes more or less condensed, and 
 not only produces the phenomenon, called “ sweat- 
 ing,” but a chemical action upon the properties of the 
 tobacco, which gives to the leaf a variety of shades, 
 and very much impairs its texture. 
 
 When the leaf is thoroughly dried, the planter may, 
 if in want of the thermometer to carry on the process 
 in another barn or drying house, have it removed, and, 
 whilst drying the stem and stalk, regulate the temper- 
 ature sufficiently well without it. The temperature 
 that completes the drying of the leaf will suit very 
 well for that purpose, unless it shall be desirable to 
 dry the stem and leaf of the same color; if so, the 
 mercury should be made to rise gradually, in the ratio 
 mentioned, until the stem is dried. The attendant 
 may easily know when the leaf is dry, by examining 
 some of the largest plants. The top leaves, from 
 which the vapor escapes more slowly than from the 
 others, and which are, consequently, the last that dry, 
 should be his guide. When I speak of top or bottom 
 leaves, it is with reference to the plant as it stands in 
 the field. It will be found best, however, always to 
 retain the thermometer as a guard against too high a 
 degree of heat. Essential oils, when removed by dis- 
 tillation from the plants containing them, evaporate at 
 about 212 degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer; and 
 tobacco, containing such an oil, although in combina- 
 
22 
 
 tion with its other constituents, will lose it in part at 
 the same, or even a much lower temperature. Re- 
 peated experiments have proved, beyond doubt, the 
 truth of this proposition; and when it is desirable to 
 reduce the tobacco, so as to suit a smoking market, 
 it may be done in this as well as many other ways. 
 Moreover, when the temperature is much too high, it 
 will impart to the tobacco a smell of fire, which, if 
 slight, will soon leave it; but it will also give to the 
 woody fibre of the leaf, a stiffness or rigidity that will 
 very much impair its value. The opinion is too com- 
 mon among planters, that, when the leaf is dry, but 
 little or no injury can be sustained by the violent fires 
 which are generally used in curing the stem and stalk; 
 an error productive of as much mischief, perhaps, as 
 any hitherto committed in the process. I would great- 
 ly prefer to come under the temperature which com- 
 pletes the drying of the leaf, than to transcend it whilst 
 drying the stem and stalk. The time generally occu- 
 pied in effecting their desiccation, is from two to three 
 days, and is nearly the same for small and large to- 
 bacco. The small tobacco being much thinner than 
 the large, is more liable to injuries from a high de- 
 gree of heat, and should, consequently, have its stem 
 and stalk dried bv such a temperature as will accord 
 with its comparative fineness of texture. Fine tex- 
 tures, of any description, receive the smell of fire much 
 more readily than coarse ones, from high temperatures. 
 
23 
 
 However, when the tobacco is parting with its vapor 
 most rapidly, the attendant should watch the fire with 
 much care, and see that the temperature is sufficiently 
 high. The thermometer may probably stand much 
 lower than might be expected from the intensity of 
 the combustion; the reason of which is, that a large 
 portion of heat, at such a time, is rendered latent, by 
 entering into chemical combination with the vapor that 
 is rapidly passing off, and thQs fails to give that alti- 
 tude to the mercury which it would otherwise produce. 
 Unless the fire should be well attended to at this pe- 
 riod of the process, the leaf will sustain some injury. 
 It should also be watched with equal care, as soon as 
 most of the vapor is thrown off; the heat then becomes 
 more free, and the fire, which had just failed to raise 
 the mercury to 120 degrees, will produce a tempera- 
 ture of 200 degrees, or more, which will very much 
 impair, if not destroy, the quality of the tobacco. 
 These facts are important,, and should be well recol- 
 lected. 
 
 The aspect of the tobacco, when the process is end- 
 ed, will entirely depend upon its condition when the 
 fire was applied. If it was extremely yellow and well 
 matured before it was cut, and if its component parts 
 have not, by exposure to the sun or a warm atmos- 
 phere, acquired too strong a tendency to decomposi- 
 tion or reaction, .it will be as follows: 
 
 The back of the leaf will exhibit the same green 
 
21 
 
 color, or very nearly, as it did before it was dried, and 
 the whole will appear nearly transparent, when held 
 between the light and the eye; an aspect which proves 
 that but little, if any, chemical action has been excited 
 or produced upon its constituents whilst its vapor 
 was passing off, and that it retains its essential and 
 aromatic properties in the highest degree. The pre- 
 servation of the natural color of well matured plants, 
 directly after they are dried, is generally the best test 
 of the retention of all their valuable properties. When 
 tobacco of this description is thus cured, exempt from 
 any chemical action upon its properties, it will soon, 
 through the agency of atmospherical heat and moisture, 
 lose its greenish color, and become a fine yellow. Its 
 yellowness, however, when it is thus changed by 
 heat and moisture, will be in proportion to its yellow- 
 ness when cut; and the tobacco will require a time to 
 lose its greenish color, proportioned to its degree, or 
 the deepness of its shade; when it has no shade of 
 yellow in the field, the green color will, ultimately, 
 be nearly or wholly lost in a dark one, and the leaf 
 will have little or no transparency. These proposi- 
 tions are fully confirmed by samples now in my pos- 
 session, which were cured more than a year since. 
 If much of the leaf should not be transparent, and 
 retain its natural color, or approach it very nearly, 
 when the desiccation is effected, it will be evidence 
 that the temperatures were raised too slowly, or too 
 
25 
 
 rapidly, to cure the tobacco of the character just men- 
 tioned. When they are raised too slowly, it will have 
 dark or reddish shades, or spots, particularly on the 
 upper part of the leaves; in such places the texture 
 of the leaf will be coarser, more spongy, have the ap- 
 pearance called by the planter, “ grain,” and will im- 
 bibe moisture more freely than the other parts of it. 
 In those places the alkaline property of the plant has, 
 probably, in some degree, neutralized its oil, to its in- 
 jury or benefit, as the tobacco merchant may hereafter 
 determine. The bottom leaves, which dry first, will 
 be most transparent, and, in proportion to the advance 
 towards that range of temperatures which would have 
 dried the whole of the plant, exempt from any injuri- 
 ous chemical action, will be the quantity of this de- 
 scription. When the temperatures are raised too ra- 
 pidly, colors nearly similar to those just mentioned 
 will be produced, though generally darker, and much 
 more glossy; the texture in those places will be finer 
 than elsewhere, will receive moisture more slowly, 
 and, in proportion to the approach towards that range 
 of temperatures which will dry the plant of a uniform 
 character, will be the diminution of these appearances. 
 These effects of the temperatures should be well re- 
 collected; they will serve as important guides in the 
 subsequent curings; when the heat is raised a great 
 deal too rapidly, some parts of the leaves on the plants 
 will be dried with a muddy, dingy-green color, and 
 4 
 
26 
 
 most of the valuable properties of the plant will be 
 thrown off with its vapor; consequently the rule should 
 be rigidly observed, never to apply a greater degree 
 of heat, or a higher range of temperatures for curing, 
 than is absolutely necessary to bring the tobacco to 
 the desired state and color; by this precaution, its 
 texture will be preserved from injury. If the to- 
 bacco, however, shall have acquired, by re-action upon 
 its properties, any additional yellowness in the interval 
 between cutting and the application of the fires, it will 
 be difficult to dry it uniformly transparent by any table 
 of temperatures. If the additional yellowness on the 
 leaf should be very slight and partial, it will ensure a 
 yellowish piebald appearance; but if it has been al- 
 lowed to become uniformly yellow throughout the leaf, 
 it will have a uniformly reddish, or mahogany, color, 
 after it has undergone the usual changes by moisture. 
 In proportion to the re-action that has taken place, 
 will it approach to, or recede from, a uniform trans- 
 parency. One day’s exposure to a hot sun or atmos- 
 phere, will frequently so much change the properties 
 of the plant as to defeat the end proposed, and cause 
 the tobacco to dry with a piebald aspect. Hence the 
 propriety of always housing tobacco which has well 
 yellowed in the field as soon as possible, particularly 
 if the weather should be warm; and hence, also, the 
 necessity of raising the fires immediately. The ine- 
 quality of the action of the sun and dews on tobacco 
 
27 
 
 before it is dried, renders exposure to them objection- 
 able, particularly as all the variety of colors of which 
 it is susceptible may be produced with much more 
 ease and certainty in the house, where any required 
 climate may be attained. 
 
 Tobacco that is brought to the knife in a state that 
 the planter calls “ ripening green,” and of the size 
 and substance before mentioned, will, like the yellow 
 tobacco, when it is dried by the table of temperatures 
 before named, present an aspect entirely dependent 
 upon its condition when they were applied. If no 
 change has taken place among its constituents, and 
 they are exempt from that susceptibility of change 
 which is generally produced by the causes before 
 mentioned, it will, immediately after being dried, have 
 very nearly its natural color. The face of the leaf, 
 however, I have generally found with a faint shade of 
 yellow. Whether such tobacco, thus dried, should 
 be preferred to that whose properties have partially, 
 or extensively, reacted upon each other before or 
 whilst drying, or, in other words, have chemically 
 changed, is a question that must hereafter be deter- 
 mined by the tobacco merchant and consumer. At 
 present, a partial, or slight change upon the proper- 
 ties of such tobacco, such a one as will give it a va- 
 riegated aspect, is preferred by them; an effect that 
 may be produced in various ways. The following 
 variation, however, in the table of temperatures, is 
 preferable to all other means for producing it. 
 
28 
 
 As soon as the tobacco is housed, the mercury 
 should be raised quickly to about 100 degrees, and 
 should be kept there until the tobacco has acquired 
 a slightly yellowish cast; after which it should be rais- 
 ed in the same ratio that has been recommended for 
 the yellow tobacco. By this mode of yellowing the 
 tobacco, it frequently happens that some of the yel- 
 lowness produced by the preparatory steaming is re- 
 tained, particularly when it is very slight, before the 
 appropriate temperatures are raised upon it. If a 
 much lower table of temperatures than I have recom- 
 mended should be applied after the yellowing, the top 
 leaves, and those next to them, will be dried very bad- 
 ly, and the plant will have but little uniformity. The 
 variation recommended in the table of heat, is admi- 
 rably suited to old bottom land, or tot land tobacco, 
 which comes to the knife with a green color. Forty 
 or fifty hours steaming, I have generally found amply 
 sufficient to produce the requisite changes upon the 
 very greenest tobacco. Such tobacco, however, never 
 can be made of fine quality by any process. If the 
 tobacco should be larger or smaller than the size un- 
 der consideration, the temperatures for steaming 
 should be increased or diminished accordingly. 110 
 degrees I have found amply sufficient for the largest, 
 and 80 for the smallest. When the weather is cool 
 and windy, scaffolding such tobacco in the shade, 
 (that which has a green color) will sometimes prepare 
 
 4 
 
29 
 
 it tolerably for the requisite changes, as well as cause 
 it to lose a great deal of its sap, which would other- 
 wise have to be thrown off by the fire; but, on account 
 of the uncertainty of the weather, and for the reasons 
 before given, such an expedient should not be resort- 
 ed to, unless made necessary by a want of house 
 room, or by a pressure of business. 
 
 When the color of the tobacco, at the time it is cut, 
 is an intermediate one, partaking of yellow and green, 
 there should be such variations in the application of 
 the means for producing the requisite changes in its 
 properties, as will correspond to its approximation in 
 color to the one or the other. When it is consider- 
 ably yellow, it requires less of the means that pro- 
 duce re-action, owing to its greater tendency to run 
 into that state; when it is otherwise, more of them. 
 The following variations, in the table of heat, I have 
 found to answer well for the intermediate colors. 
 
 When the tobacco has a very slight shade of yel- 
 low, it should be steamed by a temperature of 100 
 degrees, or thereabouts, thirty or forty hours, or until 
 a visible additional yellowness takes place; after 
 which, the table of temperatures, before named, should 
 be raised upon it. 
 
 When it has a rather deeper shade than the one 
 last mentioned, the same temperature for steaming 
 should be raised upon it, but should not be continued 
 longer than from twenty to thirty hours, before the 
 raising of the table of heat. 
 
30 
 
 When the shade of yellow is still deeper, the period 
 for steaming should be proportionably shortened be- 
 fore the appropriate temperatures are raised. 
 
 When the tobacco is extremely yellow, the table of 
 heat first named should be applied in the manner be- 
 fore directed. 
 
 When, however, it shall be desirable to cure any 
 description of tobacco with a uniformly reddish or 
 brownish color, its properties should be so changed 
 as to give it a deep yellow hue, by any of the appro- 
 priate means; after which, it should be dried by the 
 temperatures recommended. Crowding, and expos- 
 ing it to a temperature of 80 or 90 degrees, will soon 
 produce that state, particularly if the barn floor should 
 be made damp or wet. A wet floor, or moist atmos- 
 phere, very much facilitates its tendency to yellow; 
 but, as the natural juices with which the plant is im- 
 pregnated, are generally sufficient to effect that state, 
 the wetting should not be resorted to unless the to- 
 bacco should be very green when cut, as in other res- 
 pects it is objectionable. When it has thus yellowed, 
 some of its shades may be retained for a short time ' 
 after it is dried; but they will ultimately be lost in a 
 reddish or brownish color. If, after yellowing, in this, 
 or any other manner, to the extent just mentioned, 
 the tobacco should be dried by very low temperatures, 
 it will become what the planter calls “ sour, or taint- 
 ed,” and have a darkish dingy color, with coarse fibre 
 
31 
 
 and swelled texture. The additional yellowing of 
 tobacco that has matured with a yellow color, is, I 
 think, a deeply rooted error, that has done much mis- 
 chief to the planter, particularly in the making of fine 
 Virginia chewing tobacco. Such a change, although 
 the first visible approach towards that state of decom- 
 position by which all vegetable matter loses its dis- 
 tinctive properties, may be beneficial to tobacco not 
 fully matured; but is, I am well persuaded, always in- 
 jurious to that in an opposite state. 
 
 If the tobacco should be stored away in the house 
 more closely than I have recommended, there should 
 be a slight increase in the temperatures for curing; if 
 more thinly, some diminution. When it is hung very 
 closely, it requires more heat, as the vapor escapes 
 from it with more difficulty; and, in proportion to the 
 quantity to be thrown off in a given space, will be the 
 difficulty of attaining particular results — a fact that 
 should teach the planter never to let his tobacco be 
 caught in rain, be hung very closely, or be exposed to 
 dews; and always to have the floor, house, and wood, as 
 dry as possible, except when otherwise directed. The 
 vapor arising from such sources will be more or less 
 injurious to the tobacco; and will considerably inter- 
 fere with the raising of the required temperatures — a 
 great deal of the heat becoming latent by entering in- 
 to a chemical combination with it. 
 
 If the tobacco should be larger or smaller than the 
 
32 
 
 size under consideration, the appropriate variations 
 should be made in the temperatures for curing. When 
 it is larger, the intervals between the various points 
 in the table of heat should be contracted; but when 
 it is smaller, they should be lengthened, one, two, 
 three, or four hours, according to the size of the to- 
 bacco. If both should be cured under the same pro- 
 cess, the large or the small tobacco must unavoida- 
 bly sustain an injury; they should, therefore, be sepa- 
 rated, and the process carried on in distinct houses. 
 
 The most appropriate time for this separation is 
 when cutting or hanging the tobacco on the sticks. The 
 large may be placed between the rows on the right, 
 the small between those on the left, and the middling 
 size in the centre. By this little trouble, and the ne- 
 cessary attention to the laborers who hang it on the 
 sticks, no further assortment will be required, even 
 after it is cured, if the tobacco shall be equally good 
 in the field; and each may get, without difficulty, its 
 appropriate quantity of heat. This division, or sepa- 
 ration of the tobacco into three classes, may be easily 
 reduced to two, and sometimes to one, by dividing 
 transversely, or splitting the largest plants into two. 
 If, from unavoidable circumstances, this assortment 
 cannot be made, and the house should be filled, as is 
 commonly the case, with large and small tobacco, a 
 medium range of temperatures for curing should be 
 resorted to, unless the planter prefers a partial sacri- 
 
83 
 
 fice of the one part, for the benefit of the other. The 
 time of cutting will also be the most suitable one for 
 separating, when necessary, the yellow from the green 
 tobacco. These assortments, however, will seldom 
 be necessary; when the crop is tolerably even, and 
 uniform in color, no such trouble need be incurred. 
 
 “ The difficulties which I have aimed to remove 
 are such as have resulted from the empirical mode 
 in which tobacco has been heretofore cured, the con- 
 sequence of which has been, that the quality of the 
 article produced has not depended upon its goodness 
 when cut, but upon events altogether accidental; no 
 regular system having been pursued, or understood, 
 nor, indeed, the means adopted necessary to carry such 
 a system into effect. 
 
 « The principle upon which I have proceeded, is, 
 that, whenever a vegetable substance is to be desiccated 
 by heat, in order to its being brought into a particular 
 state, there is a certain period of time within the limits 
 of which the process must be effected, or a spontane- 
 ous re-action of the constituents of the vegetable will 
 take place, which re-action must necessarily prevent 
 the attainment of the end proposed; and that there 
 are certain limits of temperatures, above or below 
 which we must fail in inducing the desired state. 
 When articles, similar in their properties, are subjected 
 to the influences of circumstances which do not vary, 
 the result may be predicted, after it has been rigor- 
 ously ascertained in a single instance. 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 “ The means which I have adopted are such as 
 were intended, and which experience has proved to 
 be effectual, to place within my reach the control of 
 those circumstances which must concur in producing 
 the end at which I have aimed, namely, the develop- 
 ment and preservation of all those properties in the 
 tobacco plant, which give to it its highest value in the 
 market.”* 
 
 * Extract from the specification, of the patent. 
 
35 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The management of the tobacco from the time it is cured until deli- 
 vered in the market. 
 
 In the making of fine Tobacco, much depends upon 
 a knowledge of this branch of the subject; it should, 
 therefore, be well understood; and command the most 
 particular attention. 
 
 When the process of curing is ended, the door and 
 windows should be opened for the purpose of cooling 
 the house and putting the tobacco in a state for re- 
 moval. If, however, there should be need of removing 
 it quickly, it may be taken out dry, or the barn floor 
 may be made wet with water, the evaporation from 
 which will soften it in a short time without doing it 
 the slightest injury. Such vapor, if the floor shall be 
 cleared of all decaying matter, is as pure as that 
 which is derived from any other source. 
 
 The house to which it is removed should be open; 
 the tobacco, if it is dried with a green or greenish color, 
 should be stored away thinly, and should thus remain 
 until it becomes highly saturated with moisture, or, in 
 planters’ phrase, “ high in order;” after which it may 
 be removed elsewhere, or stored away more thickly. 
 When it is thus saturated with moisture, and the 
 
36 
 
 weather is warm, it will soon lose most of its greenish 
 color, and the properties of the plant will undergo 
 changes by which it will acquire the usual scent of 
 tobacco. Until these changes take place, which are 
 produced by atmospherical heat and moisture, its 
 smell resembles that of other recently dried herbage; 
 these changes, however, may be produced by the arti- 
 ficial application of those agents. I have frequently 
 removed the green color of very green tobacco, when 
 it was highly saturated with moisture, and stored away 
 thickly in a tight house, by drying it with a tempera- 
 ture of 90 or 100 degrees. If it should be slightly 
 bruised, it loses its green color still more rapidly. 
 The bruise, although it very much darkens its color, 
 seems to fix its oil, and renders the texture and woody 
 fibre of the leaf much less destructible. The atmos- 
 phere, however, with its heat and moisture, will ge- 
 nerally be sufficient to effect the necessary changes 
 upon cured tobacco. 
 
 When the tobacco is dried with a reddish, a dark- 
 ish, or yellow color, it should be managed differently; 
 it should then be removed to a tight house, stored away 
 thickly, or laid into bulk as soon as practicable. If 
 it is afterwards much exposed to the influence of the 
 atmosphere and its^ moisture, the texture of the leaf 
 will be weakened^ much of its volatile property will 
 be lost, the reddish and darkish colors will increase, 
 and the yellow one will be lost in a pale mahogany 
 
37 
 
 red. Nothing is more common than to hear the plan- 
 ter, early in the fall, boast of his fine yellow or yellow- 
 ish piebald tobacco, and in the ensuing winter or 
 spring, complain that it has all become reddish or dark- 
 ish. The quantity of moisture that will be necessary 
 for placing reddish, darkish, or yellow tobacco, in bulk, 
 for “ stripping” or packing in the hogshead, will be 
 amply sufficient to effect all the changes in its proper- 
 ties which it may be desirable to produce. If, how- 
 ever, tobacco with these colors shall have been dried 
 by open fires, or flues which admitted to it all the 
 vapors arising from the combustion, it will be better 
 to let it hang longer in the barn than I have recom- 
 mended; the atmosphere lessens, in a very slight de- 
 gree, the injury done by those vapors. I will here 
 make a short digression, and speak more particularly 
 of these effects. 
 
 When all the products of the combustion are ad- 
 mitted to the tobacco, it has a strong acrid taste or 
 smell, which is generally denominated by the planter, 
 “ the taste or smell of smoke,” and is believed by him 
 to be the effect of that vapor; the opinion, however, 
 is incorrect. The smoke or soot deposited on the 
 tobacco may be brushed or washed off, in the most 
 effectual manner, and yet the strong acrid taste or smell 
 will exist. The whole of the smoke may be con- 
 sumed, by flues constructed for that purpose, and it 
 will still remain. (A flue whose draught has its exit 
 
38 
 
 into the house, and passes through a metallic pipe, 
 heated to redness by another flue, will effectually con- 
 sume the smoke.) This strong acrid taste or smell 
 is produced by the pyroligneous acid, which is evolved 
 with the smoke in the first stage of the combustion; 
 it insinuates itself into, and alters the properties of, 
 the tobacco, chemically or otherwise, and is difficult 
 to be removed by any process. When this pyrolig- 
 neous acid is excluded from the tobacco, and carbonic 
 acid, which escapes during the latter stage of the 
 combustion, is admitted, its taste and smell are very 
 different; its flavor is then very fine, and, perhaps, in 
 all respects, equal to, if not better, than the flavor of 
 tobacco from which the whole of the products of the 
 combustion are excluded. These vapors have little, 
 if any thing, to do with the preservation of tobacco; 
 its oil, or, in planters’ phrase, “ its strength,” is its 
 principal preservative property. This I have ascer- 
 tained by ample experience. “The richer the to- 
 bacco, the better it will keep,” is a well settled maxim 
 among the planters. 
 
 When the leaf is pliant, and most of the stem un- 
 yielding, the tobacco is then in a suitable state for 
 bulking, “ stripping,” or prizing. The “ stripping,” 
 however, may be done whilst the tobacco is in higher 
 “ order,” or before it is bulked; but, generally, it will 
 be found most convenient to do it afterwards. A 
 house, of the following description, I have found to 
 
39 
 
 answer well for bulking, and it will very much lessen 
 the expense of barn building: The house I have used 
 is thirty feet long, eight wide, ten deep in the body, 
 and built of logs; the roof is of slabs or planks, and 
 made very tight by dirt or straw put on, or in it; a 
 door in one end, with a shutter fitting very tight, and 
 the whole, when finished, as nearly air proof as such 
 a building can be easily made; within it is a suitable 
 scaffold, a foot from the floor, for bulking the tobacco 
 on. Such a house will be found very useful and con- 
 venient in the management of the crop, and will pre- 
 serve much of the valuable properties of the tobacco 
 which would otherwise be lost. 
 
 When the tobacco is placed in bulk, the next thing 
 to be attended to is the “ stripping,” or the removal 
 of the leaves from the stalks for the purpose of being 
 tied into bundles. The bundles should contain about 
 six or eight leaves; the leaves in each should be as 
 nearly of a length and color as possible, and the various 
 sizes and colors should be kept to themselves. The 
 yellow should constitute one class of bundles, the pie- 
 bald another, the red and dark the third. If the crop, 
 however, should be first rate in the field, and cured in 
 the best manner, these assortments will not be needed; 
 all the inferior will be required to tie up the good 
 tobacco. In such a house as I have just described, 
 the “ stripping” can be carried on at any period of the 
 winter. The tobacco may be kept soft by wetting 
 
40 
 
 the floor and raising a temperature in the house, by 
 flues or otherwise, of 50 or 60 degrees; and the ne- 
 cessary assortments can be made by admitting light 
 through a small glass window. By heat and moisture, 
 thus created, the planter may make his own seasons, 
 produce all those changes upon the properties of the 
 tobacco which have been before mentioned, and might, 
 possibly, by a more extensive application of them, 
 prepare the article quickly for consumption. The 
 principal art in manufacturing chewing tobacco con- 
 sists in the proper application of these agents, heat 
 and moisture. When the manufacturer puts his to- 
 bacco under press with too much moisture in it, those 
 agents produce incipient putrefaction, known most 
 commonly by the names, “ mould or funk,” which 
 entirely destroys the article as a luxury; when he puts 
 it under with too little moisture in it, the heat and 
 moisture fail to produce, in due time, that change in 
 its properties which is necessary to correct its objec- 
 tionably acrid and bitter taste; but, when he puts it 
 under with the proper quantity of moisture in it, and 
 the necessary heat is applied, this change quickly 
 takes place, and the tobacco is soon ready for the 
 market. It is this change in its properties, produced 
 by atmospherical or artificial heat and moisture, and 
 not by age, which gives to chewing tobacco its fine 
 quality. 
 
 When the “ stripping” is finished, the tobacco 
 should be rebulked; the bulk should be heavily 
 
41 
 
 weighted, and its sides protected well from drying 
 weather by a tight house or some suitable covering; 
 after which the prizing may be done at any convenient 
 time. . * 
 
 There is no particular art in packing or putting the 
 tobacco into the hogshead; it should, however, be 
 placed straight, distributed equally, and not pressed 
 very hard. Hard pressing causes the leaves to adhere 
 so closely as to render the stemming difficult, and is 
 thus far objectionable. It perhaps does no injury to 
 the quality of the tobacco, particularly if it is intended 
 for chewing, but most probably improves it. The 
 effect of the press, in combination with the agents 
 before mentioned, heat and moisture , in improving 
 the quality of tobacco, is fully shown by a com- 
 parison of its opposite states. When it goes into 
 the hands of the skilful manufacturer, it may be 
 but ordinary, and almost unfit for use; but, when it 
 comes out, it is frequently of excellent quality; the 
 pressing is, therefore, not objectionable, except as re- 
 gards the adhesion of the leaves. The hogsheads 
 should contain, if intended for the Virginia market, 
 1,400 to 1,600 lbs.; and the prizing may be carried on 
 in any kind of weather, even in the winter, if the 
 planter is prepared with suitable houses for such busi- 
 ness. It will be found best, however, to select that 
 which is warm or moist. When the winter is ex- 
 6 
 
42 
 
 tremely cold and dry, it will be most convenient to 
 postpone the prizing until the ensuing spring. 
 
 After the crop is prized and delivered in the mar- 
 ket, the time at which it should be opened, or exposed 
 to sale, should next claim the planter’s attention. If 
 his tobacco is very reddish, very darkish, or very yel- 
 low, the ensuing April or May will be a suitable pe- 
 riod; very nearly all the improvement in appearance 
 of which such tobacco is susceptible, will have taken 
 place by that time, particularly when it is put into the 
 hogshead in sufficiently soft order. If, however, these 
 colors should be considerably interspersed with shades 
 of green, it will be better, generally, to postpone the 
 time of selling until the next summer, or fall. By that 
 time, the shades of green, which are now objection- 
 able with many tobacco merchants, will be lost in . a 
 yellow, a yellowish, or darkish color, according to the 
 particular state of the tobacco at the time it was cut; 
 and its taste and smell will be very much improved. 
 This change in color, &c. is effected by what the to- 
 bacco merchant calls “ sweating,” which is but ano- 
 ther name for that mutual action of the constituents 
 of the tobacco upon each other, before spoken of, pro- 
 duced by the summer’s heat acting upon its moisture. 
 The improvement in such tobacco, after prized, by 
 this “ sweating,” or mutual action of its properties, 
 produced by heat and moisture, is obvious to every 
 observing tobacco merchant. For the want of this 
 
43 
 
 knowledge, however, on the part of a number of them, 
 it frequently happens that the article is considered 
 inferior, sells for a low price in the winter, or spring, 
 and afterwards commands the very highest; I would, 
 therefore, advise the planter not to sell his crop pre- 
 maturely. If the hogsheads which contain it are well 
 dried and very tight, which should always be the case, 
 no fear need be entertained about its safe keeping. 
 
 In concluding this section, it will be proper to ob- 
 serve, that the management which I have recommend- 
 ed, is intended particularly for the Virginia planter, 
 and those of most of the Western States. In the 
 States of Maryland, Ohio, and other places, the ma- 
 nagement required, after curing, is very different. In 
 those States the tobacco is prized in very dry order, 
 and the hogsheads made to weigh not more than from 
 600 to 800 lbs. Their tobacco is intended princi- 
 pally for smoking and snuffing, and, therefore, requires 
 a different management; the principle, however, for 
 curing such tobacco, is precisely the same. 
 
44 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 The Cultivation. 
 
 This, as well as the preceding branch of the sub- 
 ject, is important to the planter. Unless his tobacco 
 shall be of good quality in the field, it never can be 
 made so afterwards by any management, or process 
 of curing; the cultivation should, therefore, be well 
 understood. 
 
 Having had but a short period for observation and 
 experiment upon this part of the subject, I can say but 
 little practically about it: but, as it is a subject full of 
 contingencies, owing to its dependence upon the va- 
 rious soils and seasons, it becomes a fit one for spe- 
 culation, and it will be considered, almost entirely, 
 in that way. Before, however, entering into its de- 
 tails, it will be proper to premise, that every planter 
 should make himself well acquainted with the parti- 
 cular market for which his tobacco is destined before 
 he adopts any particular mode of cultivation; this he 
 should even do as regards curing. Having this know- 
 ledge, which may be easily obtained through his com- 
 mission merchant, he may vary his cultivation and 
 curing according to the requirements of that market. 
 This information I consider important, as the demand 
 
45 
 
 for particular qualities of tobacco is more or less va- 
 rying every year. The planter’s object is gain; and 
 if even such tobacco as he may consider inferior, 
 should command the highest price, his aim should be 
 to produce it. 
 
 Among the first things that will claim the planter’s 
 care, in the cultivation, is the preparation, or seeding, 
 of his plant beds. The soil that should be selected 
 for them should be rich, moist, and as dense as can 
 be obtained; close land should be greatly preferred to 
 that which is porous. It should be sufficiently burnt 
 to keep down the spontaneous herbage; the ground 
 should be well broken whilst it is dry, and the seed 
 sown. A table spoonful, or rather more, to every 
 thirty feet square, is generally a sufficient quantity. 
 The most suitable time for preparing and sowing, is 
 in the month of January and February; when the land 
 is dry. Early and plentiful sowing should always be 
 preferred; the success of the crop is necessarily de- 
 pendent upon the success of raising plants. Covering 
 the beds is thought to be necessary by some planters, 
 but, by others, not. My own opinion is, that it is as 
 often injurious as beneficial. If the land should not 
 be very rich, manuring before or after the seed is 
 sown, will be advantageous. The kind of seed which 
 the planter ought to sow, must depend entirely upon 
 the description of tobacco which he may wish to make. 
 If he purposes to make very yellow tobacco, he should 
 
46 
 
 select the seed from that kind; if very dark tobacco, 
 his selection should be made from that description 
 which has the least tendency to yellow in the field. 
 The difference, however, in the various kinds in that 
 respect is not very considerable. Either may be made 
 to yellow more or less, by proper cultivation. Seed 
 that is sown at the time and in the manner I have 
 recommended, will generally produce a sufficiency of 
 plants, of full size, to set the crop in good season. 
 From the first to the last of May will be found the 
 best time for transplanting, though later or earlier 
 sometimes answers well. Very early transplanting, 
 however, I have found sometimes objectionable. 
 When the spring is very cool, the plants vegetate 
 slowly, or, in planters’ phrase; “start very" badly.” 
 When this is the case, a more vigorous growth may 
 be given to them by transplanting the same plants in 
 the same hills. 
 
 The preparation of the field in which the crop is to 
 be grown, should, like the selection of the seed, de- 
 pend upon the quality of the tobacco sought to be 
 made, and, in some degree, upon the character of the 
 soil. If the land should be old and very rich, and the 
 planter should wish to make large long-leaf tobacco, 
 with coarse fibre and texture, heavy and gross in its 
 properties, he should prepare his land well by deep 
 ploughing, plant the tobacco three and a half or four 
 feet apart, in the hillfe, prime it high enough to se- 
 
47 
 
 \ 
 
 cure the bottom leaves from dirt, top it to eight or 
 ten leaves, and as early as the plant will bear it; keep 
 the field clear of grass and weeds, the ground well 
 broken, as long as the tobacco will afford room for 
 doing so, and select such tobacco as is known to grow 
 largest, and has the least tendency to yellow in the 
 field, ff the season should prove favorable to tobac- 
 co thus cultivated, it will grow very large, and yield 
 abundantly in weight to the planter; but never can be 
 made of that quality which is now considered fine. 
 If the season, however, should prove to be dry, the 
 tobacco will be much smaller and finer in its texture; 
 it will also be apt to acquire a yellow color; and un- 
 less the drought should be an excessive one, it may 
 be made of a better quality than when it is grown to 
 a very large size. But if the season should prove to 
 be very wet, which is frequently the case, the crop will 
 sustain a serious injury under such a mode of culti- 
 vation. The tobacco will grow rapidly, become sur- 
 charged with sap, and before it can arrive to maturity, 
 contract the disease, in planters’ phrase called the 
 “ spot or firing.” Such luxuriancy has never failed, 
 so far as my observation has extended, to produce 
 more or less of this disease. When it has passed into 
 this state, it must come to the knife, whether ripe or 
 green, and can never be made of any other than the 
 most inferior quality. If the season, however, should 
 be so very wet as to produce “ drowning,” and, of 
 
48 
 
 course, a diseased yellow color, the tobacco should 
 be cut, if it has much size, as quickly as possible, and 
 exposed to the proper temperatures for drying it; 
 when it has passed into this state it is not susceptible 
 of further improvement. If it should be dried well, 
 its texture will be fine, fibres small, the leaf thin, and 
 transparent, extremely yellow, ivith but little strength, 
 though well flavored. Such tobacco will command 
 a high price for smoking, and should not be discard- 
 ed from the crop, as has hitherto been done in Vir- 
 ginia. It should be prized lightly, and as dry as pos- 
 sible, without crumbling. The luxuriancy just men- 
 tioned, and its consequences, when anticipated, may 
 be very much controlled and lessened by suffering the 
 suckers to remain on the plant a longer time than is 
 usual; they will act as exhausters, by imbibing in part 
 the juices of the plant, and must, consequently, very 
 much diminish its tendency to disease; but if, after- 
 wards, the planter s speculations upon the w'eather 
 shall induce him to believe that the season will be 
 dry, the suckers should be quickly removed. These 
 speculations should be indulged more or less through- 
 out the whole cultivation, though more particularly in 
 relation to the topping. 
 
 Should the planter wish to make large yellow' to- 
 bacco, he must select such as has the strongest ten- 
 dency to yellow in the field, and which grows to a 
 large size, and cultivate it in the manner recommend- 
 
49 
 
 for the foregoing; with the exceptions of topping it 
 two or three leaves higher, and working the land less 
 after the tobacco has acquired much size. Late 
 working, particularly if succeeded by a rain, gives 
 new resources to the growth of the plant, and is too 
 apt to produce that morbid luxuriancy, and its conse- 
 quences, before mentioned; it but seldom fails to pre- 
 vent yellowing, so indispensable to the making of the 
 kind of tobacco under consideration. The soil should 
 not be broken after the tobacco has pretty well covered 
 the hill. The grass and weeds, which may be likely 
 afterwards to interfere with its growth, may be scrap- 
 ed off in the lightest manner. By this mode of culti- 
 vation, the planter will seldom fail in producing the 
 yellow color, particularly if the land is well suited to 
 the tobacco, and the plant should possess the slight- 
 est inherent tendency to that state. This mode, how- 
 ever, will probably be objected to, from a belief that 
 the plant will be poor, and never acquire sufficient 
 size; my experience and observation compel me to 
 think otherwise. I have known plants to spring up 
 as if they were spontaneous, grow luxuriantly, and 
 to a large size, even when very much shaded, without 
 having, at any period, a particle of soil stirred around 
 them. Such facts prove the strong adaptation of the 
 American soil to tobacco — the one in which it is in- 
 digenous — and suggest the probability, that it requires 
 much less aid from cultivation than is generally sup- 
 7 
 
50 
 
 posed; when it is in its natural soil, few plants are 
 more tenacious of life, or more capable of self-pre- 
 servation; its broad and long leaves protect the soil 
 from which it is supported, keep it moist and soft, and 
 render it, when the plant has attained much size, un- 
 productive of the ordinary spontaneous herbage. The 
 following experiments in the cultivation give addi- 
 tional weight to this suggestion, particularly as re- 
 gards the cultivation of light, porous, new land. 
 
 In the year 1806 I had about 200 tobacco hills, 
 made upon land which had never before been culti- 
 vated; the ground was well broken, all the roots 
 removed, the tobacco then planted and cultivated in 
 what, in Virginia, is called the best manner. The soil 
 was kept light, and clear of grass and weeds, through- 
 out the season. In a similar soil, and exactly by the 
 side of the former, I bad small beds, or chops, made, 
 a little exceeding, in circumference, the size of a com- 
 mon hat. They were very little elevated above the sur- 
 face of the ground, and were about three feet and a 
 half apart. The hills just mentioned were also about 
 the same distance apart; and the whole, the hills and 
 beds, were planted on the same day. The number 
 of beds 800. The latter had two workings, and the 
 tobacco, in other respects, was managed like that in 
 the former. The first working of the tobacco in the 
 beds, consisted in drawing a small quantity of dirt to 
 the plant, from the unbroken ground between the 
 
51 
 
 rows. The second and last working, consisted in the 
 same operation, though more extensive. By these 
 two Workings, all the unbroken land was stirred. The 
 last one was given about the time, or a little before, 
 the tobacco came into the top, and before its roots 
 could meet with much resistance from the unbroken 
 soil. That which was in the beds grew off somewhat 
 faster than that in the hills, owing, probably, to its be- 
 ing nearer to the surface of the ground, from which it 
 imbibed moisture more rapidly than that in the hills; 
 but when each* arrived at maturity, there was so little 
 difference between them in size, color, &c. that the 
 one could not easily be distinguished from the other. 
 The experiment was renewed in the subsequent year, 
 and followed by the same result. By the ordinary 
 mode of cultivating new land, it is broken several 
 times, and all the roots removed before the hills 
 are made. By the mode of beds, much of that 
 labor is saved, and the land less exposed to injury 
 from hard rains, and the exhausting influence of 
 the sun. If the roots and litter of the forest were 
 suffered to remain, and thq land broken only as the 
 roots of the tobacco require it, many of these injuries 
 would be prevented. The principal objection, per- 
 haps, to cultivating new land in this manner, is, that it 
 requires much more labor after the crop is planted, 
 and its principal recommendation, that it requires 
 much less before it is planted. It will, at least, suit 
 
52 
 
 such planters as may want time to prepare their land 
 in the ordinary way. The roots and decaying mat- 
 ter in the new land, will, in some degree, perform the 
 offices of the plough, as well as afford nourishment to 
 the crop; they keep the soil light and porous, and al- 
 ways in a state to receive and give out moisture. 
 This mode of cultivation is worthy of further trial. 
 
 If, on very rich land, whether old or new, the plant- 
 er should wish to make short leaf yellow tobacco, his 
 mode of cultivation should be widely different from 
 that recommended for the other descriptions. The 
 tobacco selected for cultivation should be such as has 
 naturally the smallest leaf, stem, and fibre, and will 
 yellow easily in the field. It should be planted about 
 three feet apart, and in tolerably high hills, worked 
 but little, and that very early, topped high, and 'prim- 
 ed, so as to secure it from dirt. The topping is 
 much the most delicate part of the cultivation. If the 
 plant should be very luxuriant, so much so as to make 
 it probable that it will attain too much size and gross- 
 ness, it should be suffered to blossom, or nearly ap- 
 proach that state, before the bud is taken out. From 
 ten to sixteen leaves will embrace the various sizes, 
 after the plant is primed ; and the bud that is taken 
 out should always be a large one, even if it reduces 
 the plant to a less number of leaves than is recom- 
 mended. By suffering the plant to remain until such 
 a bud can be procured, its watery properties will be 
 
53 
 
 less abundant, the leaves will be further apart, or, in 
 planters’ phrase, the stalk will become “ long jointed;” 
 they will be small, have a fine texture, and will sel- 
 dom fail, if the season is tolerable, to acquire that 
 yellowness and maturity which is all-important to the 
 good quality of the article. The leaves of the plant 
 will stand more erect than when topped otherwise, 
 and seem much impoverished, though, perhaps, not 
 really be so. Such tobacco, when it is dried and ma- 
 naged in the best manner, seldom fails to command a 
 very high price. After such topping, however, if the 
 season should become very dry, and the plant not like- 
 ly to sustain itself, as many of the top leaves as may 
 seem necessary should be taken off, when the laborers 
 are removing the suckers, or making the subsequent 
 toppings. The removal of the top leaves should 
 always be preferred to those on the bottom; they are 
 smaller, equally, or more, convenient, and more re- 
 mote from maturity. A belief that such topping will 
 retard maturation, and expose the crop to the hazard 
 of frost, may, perhaps, be urged as an objection to 
 this procedure. A short experience induces me to 
 think otherwise. The difference in the period of time 
 required for the ripening of that which is topped, by 
 the removal of a large bud, and that which is topped 
 by the removal of a small one, is too inconsiderable to 
 make it a matter of any consequence. The small bud 
 may be removed a week sooner than the large one, 
 
54 
 
 and yet the plant losing the large one will come to 
 the knife as soon, or very nearly so, as the other: 
 this I have ascertained by repeated experiments. 
 How such topping produces such an effect is not 
 easily explained; nor is the knowledge of it of any 
 consequence to the planter, so that the fact be clearly 
 ascertained. The complicated operations of nature, 
 in relation to the growth and production of vegetable 
 matter, are too little understood to afford an explana- 
 tion. The greater facility with which such tobacco re- 
 ceives the air, light, heat, and moisture, and with 
 which it parts with its watery property, is most pro- 
 bably the cause. Such tobacco produces but few 
 suckers, and, consequently, the labor of cultivation is 
 very much lessened. Unfortunately for the art of grow- 
 ing fine tobacco, too many of its cultivators entertain 
 the opinion that it should be grown very large, have 
 long, broad, thick leaves, overflowing with sap, and of 
 a deep green color, or very nearly so, when it is 
 brought to the knife; forgetting that all this redundan- 
 cy must be thrown off by the process of drying, and 
 that the plant is to be left a mere skeleton of stalk, 
 stem, and fibre. Such tobacco, when dried, is coarse, 
 porous, badly flavored, and has but little essential oil; 
 the alkaline property is much more abundant, and the 
 tobacco, thus far, objectionable. The principles re- 
 commended for the cultivation of rich land, old or 
 new, will, by making corresponding variations, be ap- 
 
55 
 
 plicable to all the different grades of soil. When the 
 soil is poor, the topping should be lower,, and the 
 working of the ground more considerable. A close, 
 dense soil, although it may be rich, requires much 
 more stirring and labor than one in an opposite state. 
 
 If the planter should wish to cultivate his crop in 
 such a manner as to make smoking tobacco, he should 
 very nearly reverse the method recommended for the 
 cultivation of the large, dark, or yellow tobacco. He 
 should select such as is known to contain the smallest 
 quantity of oil when it is matured, which grows rapid- 
 ly, yellows speedily, and has a fine fibre and texture. 
 He should crowd it in the field, top it very high, not 
 prime it at all, work it very little indeed, particular- 
 ly after it has acquired much size, and cut it as soon 
 as it has attained full growth and sufficient yellow- 
 ness, without regard to further maturity. If the land 
 should be very rich, and likely to grow the tobacco so 
 luxuriantly as to prevent it from yellowing, it should 
 not be worked at all after the tobacco has pretty well 
 covered the hills. When it is thus left to struggle 
 with the weeds and grass, the necessary yellowing is 
 more apt to be produced. I have been informed by 
 a gentleman of intelligence residing in the State of 
 Ohio, and who is a large dealer in the article, that it 
 is by this mode of cultivation that thejr finest yellow 
 tobacco is grown, particularly when it is planted on 
 new land. Such tobacco, when it is well cured, and 
 
56 
 
 afterwards properly managed, commands, in the Bal- 
 timore market, a very high price. The tobacco is 
 generally known by the name of the Maryland yellow 
 kite-foot. If the season, however, should be unfavor- 
 able, and the tobacco not likely to become sufficiently 
 yellow before it acquires too much strength and coarse- 
 ness, it should be cut in its green state. When it is 
 cut in this state, and afterwards yellowed by the ap- 
 propriate means, it may be dried with a bright red- 
 dish color, and made to command a good price in a 
 smoking market. Those whose crops are likely to 
 be taken by trost, would do well to adopt such an al- 
 ternative. L nder this mode of cultivation, the objects 
 to be attained are, to grow the tobacco with as little 
 strength, or oil, as possible, to give it a deep yellow 
 colof, a fine texture, and small stem and fibre. When, 
 however, tobacco is intended for other purposes than 
 smoking, particularly for chewing, its state of matu- 
 rity should be widely different from that just men- 
 tioned: it should not only be ripe, and arrive to its 
 extreme growth, but it should remain in the field un- 
 til most of its watery property is lost. When tobacco 
 is well matured, the leaf will be more transparent than 
 when it is otherwise, somewhat brittle, a little uneven 
 upon its surface, and the whole plant will have, in 
 some degree, the appearance of wasting. Yellowness, 
 closeness of texture, a loss of the downy surface of 
 the leaf, and transparency, are the best evidences of 
 
V 
 
 57 
 
 full maturity. When the plant is in this state, its pro- 
 perties are well proportioned, and it is susceptible of 
 being dried of a fine quality. If it shall be cut be- 
 fore much of its watery property is lost, the process 
 of drying will be much more difficult, and perhaps 
 some of its valuable properties will be thrown off with 
 its vapor, which would otherwise be retained. It 
 should, therefore, instead of acquiring weight, or, in 
 planters’ phrase, “ be gaining,” always be losing it at 
 the time it is cut. When it is redundant with juices, 
 or watery matter, its properties are badly proportion- 
 ed; and I am fully convinced, from ample experience, 
 that such tobacco can never be made of fine quality. 
 The remarks which have been made in relation to the 
 cultivation of smoking tobacco, are intended only for 
 the particular qualities that were mentioned. Most 
 of the markets, perhaps all, require some of their 
 smoking tobacco to be strong, and as well matured, 
 as possible, before it is cut. 
 
 The cutting of the tobacco is simple, and needs no 
 particular directions. After it has been cut, how- 
 ever, it should be removed, as quickly as possible, 
 from the influence of the sun, particularly if the wea- 
 ther be warm, and hung upon the sticks, in the man- 
 ner (hat has been directed. When this cannot be 
 done, it should be closely covered with bushes- whilst 
 on the scaffold, or in the heap; but as it spoils very 
 quickly when heaped together, it should not long re- 
 8 
 
58 
 
 main in that state. Cool, cloudy, or windy days, should, 
 if practicable, always be selected for cutting. When 
 the heat of the sun is considerable, and the ground 
 very hot upon which the tobacco must necessarily be 
 placed, the exposure of it one or two hours will fre- 
 quently so much change and injure its properties as 
 to render it unsusceptible of being cured of good qua- 
 lity. It should, therefore, in such weather, be always 
 removed to the shade before it has become perfectly 
 limber, or, in planters’ phrase, “ well fallen.” The 
 operation of the sun on the plant, is always unequal, 
 fluctuating in its force, and must, necessarily, be more 
 or less prejudicial to it. 
 
 In concluding this section, I will remark, that the 
 opinion is erroneously entertained, that fine yellow to- 
 bacco cannot be produced unless it is grown upon 
 new land. I have occasionally seen the very best qual- 
 ity produced upon old land, that was dry, and very 
 rich. Such land is well suited to the production of 
 the article, and will, under the influence of a favorable 
 season, and a proper system of cultivation, grow the 
 tobacco to a full size, make it yellow, give it a fine 
 texture, make its most valued properties abundant, 
 and, I have no doubt, will proportion them as pro- 
 perly as in tobacco grown upon new land. When a 
 plant of tobacco has been thus grown and matured, it 
 will be of the best quality; and in estimating its va- 
 lue, no regard should be paid to the soil which pro- 
 
59 
 
 duced it. In new land, however, that is rich and dry 
 the article will produce, of fine quality, with more cer- 
 tainty than in that of opposite descriptions, and it 
 should always be preferred. The best lands which I 
 have ever seen for the growth and production of fine, 
 large, yellow tobacco, is to be found in the barrens 
 and prairies of the western part of the United States 
 The soil is rich, light, and dry, and seldom fails to 
 grow the tobacco with a fine texture, and yellow 
 color. Notwithstanding these advantages, the article, 
 in that country, with occasional exceptions, is of an 
 inferior quality, evidently owing to the want of a pro- 
 per system for cultivation, curing, &c. When such 
 a system shall have been adopted, there cannot be a 
 doubt but the tobacco of the West may be brought 
 into a fair and full competition with that of Virginia, 
 or of any other State. 
 
 The following extract, from the claim attached to 
 the specification of the patent granted for the system, 
 contains the principal claims under that patent: 
 
 “ I do not claim the use of a thermometer for the 
 purpose of merely ascertaining the temperature of a 
 room, but, as it has never before been employed as a 
 means for carrying into effect a system of curing to- 
 bacco, upon the principles described, I do claim the 
 use of the thermometer, or of any analogous means 
 of regulating the temperatures, upon the principles, 
 and for the purpose, herein designated. It is, indeed, 
 
60 
 
 possible to conduct the process without the use of a 
 thermometer, although less perfectly than with one; a 
 man, by habit, might judge of the temperatures, and 
 would, in my estimation, as actually violate my right 
 without, as with, the use of this instrument. 
 
 “ Scaffolds may have been used for the purpose of 
 defending the tobacco from the direct action of, and 
 danger from, open fires; to such, I do not assume any 
 claim — but I do claim the erection of scaffolds for the 
 purpose of diffusing the heated air, so that an equable 
 temperature may be preserved in every part of the 
 house, (or a near approach made to it) the same be- 
 ing essential to the curing of tobacco upon my sys- 
 tem.” 
 
 tHE END. 
 

 
T889E 
 
 507323 
 
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 333.71