Sorting.—Tobacco intended for smoking should be carefully sorted when stripped. There should be four sorts : 1st, large, equally good coloured, untorn leaves ; 2nd, leaves of good size and colour, but torn ; 3rd, leaves of inferior colour, and bottom leaves ; 4th, refuse, shrivelled up leaves, &c., to which may be added the suckers. No. 1 leaves, when thin, elastic, and of good sorts, are mostly valued as wrappers (outside covers) for cigars. No. 2 may also be used as wrappers, but are less valued than No. 1. ; they are adapted for fillers and cut tobacco. The different sorts are kept separate. The best plan is to let the most intelligent man strip the leaves from the stem, and at once separate them according to quality. The leaves should then be made into hands, f, e. 10-20 leaves should be tied together by twisting a leaf round the end of the stalks, each sort being attended by a special man, to avoid mixing. The leaves of the first sort being large, 10-15 will be sufficient for a hand ; more are required of the other sorts. When making the hands of the two first sorts, each leaf is taken separately, smoothened on a flat board, and left there while another is treated in the same way, continuing thus until a sufficient number is ready to make a hand. When the hand is ready, it is laid aside, and a weight is placed upon it to keep the leaves smooth.
Bulking.—Bulking means placing the tobacco-leaves in heaps for the purpose of heating, in order to develop colour and flavour ; this is carried out in various ways, nearly all involving great labour and risk, as iu most instances tobacco loses more or less in value during the process called " curing." The more care is taken in raising the crop, the less attention the tobacco requires in the shed. With a good kind of tobacco, grown on light, friable soil, treated as described, little care will be needed, after the leaves are dried and stripped. By the drying process, the leaves will have undergone a slow fermentation, which makes it unnecessary to watch or guide a regular fermenta tion afterwards, hence bulking and fermenting, as generally understood, are not required.
After being made into hands, the tobacco is put into heaps (bulked) before it again dries. Every evening, the tobacco that has been stripped during the day is bulked ; but if the weather be very dry, it must be bulked as soon as a certain number of hands is ready. The heaps should be made 4-8 ft. square and 4-8 ft. high ; all the stalks are outside, and the whole is covered by mats, &c., to check evaporation. The drier the tobacco, the larger must the heaps be made, to encourage a slight fermentation. The extent of the fermentation can be easily controlled. If the colour of the leaves is not uniform, or if it is desired to give them a browner colour, the heaps must be made large, and a somewhat moist atmosphere is required in the storing-room. This will cause fermenta tion to set in after a short time, and the heat to rise after some days, so much so that rebulking is required, which is done by putting the top leaves of the old heap at the bottom of the new one. Under such circumstances, the heap must be frequently examined during the few first weeks, to prevent overheating. It is advisable to rebulk the tobacco also, even when not much heated, after the first fourteen days, and again a month later, to ascertain the exact state in which it is.
Sometimes the tobacco becomes mouldy ; this occurs especially with tobacco which has been manured with chlorides, which cause it to become more hygroscopic than when manured otherwise. If this occurs, the mould must be brushed off, and, if necessary, the tobacco be dried. The tobacco may now remain heaped in the store-room until there is a chance for sale. It must be remembered, however, that the best time for selling varies very much. Some tobacco is fit for smoking a few weeks after drying, whereas others may burn very badly at that time, yet become a good burning article after being stored for several months.
Packing.—Tobacco in America is commonly packed in barrels, the layers being at right angles to each other alternately, and the butt-ends being always towards the outside. The usual size is about 4 ft. 6 in. deep, 3 ft. 6 in. in diameter at one end, and 3 ft. 4 in. at the other, to enable the contents to be uncovered for examination without disturbing the mass. The packing is effected under considerable hydraulic pressure. Elsewhere all kinds of packages are employed, and their weights arc very various.
Improving.—It is sometimes the custom to subject the tobacco-leaves to some sort of improve ment. There is no doubt that, by proper application of ingredients, the value of tobacco may be much enhanced. The most costly tobacco often commands a high price, not so much on account of its inherent flavour, as from that given to it artificially. In most instances, the best course to be adopted is to leave the improvement of the leaves to the manufacturer. Many ingredients are employed to improve smoking-tobacco. They tend :-1, to make the tobacco more elastic and flexible ; 2, to remove the coarse flavour ; 3, to add a particular flavour ; 4, to improve the burning quality ; 5, to improve the colour. To make the tobacco more flexible and pliant, the leaves are macerated in, or sprinkled with, a solution of sugar. In hot countries, this process is often necessary, to give tobacco such an elasticity as to fit it for handling, especially when intended for wrappers. To remove the coarse flavour, it is often macerated in water, or in very dilute hydro chloric acid. In Holland, 4-8 oz. of hydrochloric acid, diluted with 25-30 measures of water, is applied to 100 lb. of tobacco. The coarser the flavour of the tobacco, the stronger is the solution used. The time of maceration varies between and 1 hour. Sometimes tobacco is steeped in a mixture of sugar solution and diluted hydrochloric acid. To extract the fatty matter, it is macerated in alcohol or spirit of wine. To give a fine flavour, numerous substances are employed, some of which are kept secret. The following ingredients are mostly in use :—Water, cognac, vanilla, sugar, rose-wood, cassia, clove, benzoin, citron oil, rose-wood oil, amber, thyme, lavender, raisins, sassafras-wood, saltpetre, orange, and many others. The burning quality is improved by macerating in or sprinkling with solutions of carbonate of potash, acetate of potash, acetate of lime, or saltpetre, &c. Badly-burning cigars inserted for a moment in such solutions are much improved. Tobacco treated with acetate of lime yields a very white ash. The colour is sometimes improved by fumigating the leaves with sulphur, and by the application of ochre and saffron.