The fermentation of the tobacco is to be done in bulk, and this sweating process must be watched with unusual care, in order to prevent disaster to the crop. It is necessary to turn the bulk several times during the process of fermentation, in order to keep the temperature at the desired point. The ob ject of turning the bulk is to reverse its construction, thereby bringing the top, bot tom and outside layers into the middle of the new bulk. This plan will permit a uniform fermentation of all the tobacco in the bulk. A convenient and practical size of bulk con tains 2,000 to 3,000 pounds. The tempera ture of the center of the bulk should in no case be allowed to rise above 120° Fahr., and after the temperature falls 8° to 10° the bulk should be turned. The desira ble maximum tem perature is 115° Fahr. It usually takes six to eight weeks to complete the process of fer mentation. Af ter fermentation, t h e tobacco must be sized,sorted accord ing to the different market grades, tied up in hands, and packed.
Connecticut Havana tobacco.
The sced-bed.—For this variety the seed-bed should he located about as for the Sumatra variety. A southern slope where good drainage can be secured is preferable, and a good, rich and friable soil is desirable. As a rule, 200 square feet of seed bed space should be provided to furnish sufficient seedlings for an acre, although, if the tobacco is to be transferred at different periods a less area will be found to be sufficient. The seed-beds are gener ally eight feet wide and as long as is necessary to furnish sufficient seedlings for the field. They are usually laid out from east to west.
The framework of the seed-bed is made of 2 x 12-inch hoards, set in the ground three to four inches, one side being sunk two inches lower than the other in order that the sash may lie in a slanting position, so that the plants will receive all of the sunlight possible. The best method of covering the bed is by means of glass in sash about three feet wide by eight feet long. These sash are laid over the top of the framework, and can be removed at any time when it is necessary. In some cases, heavy cheese-cloth or tobacco-cloth is substituted for the glass covering, but the tem perature of the beds can not be regulated so well as with the glass cover, and the cloth should not be used when very early plants are desired. It is asserted by old tobacco-growers, however, that the plants raised under cloth are more hardy than those raised under glass, and it is a frequent practice to grow the early plants under glass and the later seedlings under cloth.
A successful method of heating seed-beds is by the use of fresh horse manure. In this case the beds should be dug out two feet deep about a week before the time for sowing the seed. The fresh manure should be packed in this space to a depth of one and one-half feet and covered with six inches of sterilized soil. Another successful method of heating is by the use of hot-water or steam pipes, laid around the sides of the bed or under the surface of the soil. General experience has proved, however, that the manure beds are equal in value, if not superior, to the artificially heated ones, mainly from the fact that the heat is distrib uted evenly through the soil, while, in the case of hot water or steam pipes, the surface of the bed or the air space is likely to be hot while the soil may remain cold and in poor condition for the growth of young plants.
It is the usual practice in the North to sprout half of the quantity of seed used for sowing in moist, but not too wet, apple-tree punk or rotted coconut fiber about one week before the time for sowing the bed. For this purpose the seed is thor oughly mixed with the punk and placed in a glass jar, which should be kept in a warm room. The seed will sprout quickly in this medium, and it is probable that earlier plants can be secured from such sprouted seed than from sowing the dry seed alone. The sprouted seed should he sown about the time the sprouts are one-eighth to one-fourth inch in length. Many growers sow the sprouted seed as soon as the seed-coats burst and the sprouts appear.
If the sprouts become too large, they will be injured during the process of sowing. An equal quantity of dry seed should be mixed with the sprouted seed when the beds are ready for sowing. It has been found by comparative tests made by the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture that in most cases the dry seed pro duces plants about as early as the sprouted seed, and the plants from the dry seed are more uniform in size and apparently more hardy than those raised from the sprouted and dry seed combined. In order to get an even distribution of seed over the seed bed in sowing, it is a good plan to mix the dry seed and the sprouted seed with several times their bulk of land plaster or gypsum, or, if this is not obtain able, with corn meal or ashes. One to two table spoonfuls of seed should be used for every 100 square yards of seed-bed surface.