Sun cured Burley?

[DonH]

I'm in Southwest Virginia this week for my job and I drove past a small tobacco field today. There were two racks of Burley stalks in the field in full sun all day and they looked dried, not just wilted. There were no plants in the ground at this point. It sure looked like a form of sun curing more than just a few hours of wilting. Again, there were in racks not on the ground. How long do some farmers leave Burley in the sun?

 

[Knucklehead]

I think Larry leaves his out for 2-3 days. I like those sun cured lugs that cure on the plant, maybe someone's trying something new.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Most of the Amish I see around here will leave their cut tobacco in the field for several days.

 

[FmGrowit]

Most of the Amish I see around here will leave their cut tobacco in the field for several days.

Yep, some Burley can be left in the field under a shed with no sides. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is to allow the leaf to wilt before hanging in the barn and another it to have a temporary place to keep it after it's cut and before there is time to hang it.

 

[BigBonner]

The tobacco you are describing is called scaffolding .
I have done this in years I raised a lot of acres .
It is simply made of wood post with three boards nailed up . Two on one side and one on the other .
The tobacco still has to be covered wit plastic or a tin roof . The weather will ruin it .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melissa_taylor/5544021691/

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Big B.... what is the purpose of scaffolding?

 

[BigBonner]

Big B.... what is the purpose of scaffolding?

Barn Room .
Back years ago when we needed more tobacco barn room we made the scaffolding to put tobacco in out side . It was cheaper and could be hung thicker with sticks of tobacco .
You would pull a wagon load of tobacco along both sides of it and hang straight off the wagon .
In a barn , two have to climb up in the barn to hang tobacco and two people on the ground for passing the tobacco and then one more on the wagon handing off the tobacco .
After a few days in the scaffolding we would cover tightly with black plastic and left to cure .
The quality of the tobacco when finished was very poor . Black leaves , water spots off colors .
Scaffolding was way cheaper than building new barns .

 

[DonH]

The tobacco you are describing is called scaffolding .
I have done this in years I raised a lot of acres .
It is simply made of wood post with three boards nailed up . Two on one side and one on the other .
The tobacco still has to be covered wit plastic or a tin roof . The weather will ruin it .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melissa_taylor/5544021691/

I drove by it again today and the still have it in full sun.

 

[DonH]

Just looked at the picture and yes, scaffolding is what they have. I'll try to get a picture.

 

[deluxestogie]

Are you certain that it was burley? There is a class of sun-cured Virginia.

Bob

 

[DonH]

Are you certain that it was burley? There is a class of sun-cured Virginia.

Bob

The client I was going to lunch with lives in the neighborhood and said it was Burley and she worked on tobacco farms in her youth, but you may be on to something here, Bob. I'll post the picture tomorrow but the scaffolds were too far from the road to tell. And I never did see the farmer or I would have pulled over and asked him.

 

[DonH]

Here is what the scaffold looked like:

 

[BigBonner]

That is a tobacco pipe wagon . Used mainly for cigar tobacco .
It can be used for Burley or any tobacco that is hung whole stalk .
It attaches to a tractor or truck and pulled through the field and tobacco is hung on metal poles ( Rails ) and most of the time is taken to a barn where the tobacco is removed and hung in the barn .
Sometimes the tobacco is left in the shade to wilt more before handling it in the barns .
It may hold 60 sticks ( 360 Stalks ) of tobacco more or less .

 

[DonH]

That is a tobacco pipe wagon . Used mainly for cigar tobacco .
It can be used for Burley or any tobacco that is hung whole stalk .
It attaches to a tractor or truck and pulled through the field and tobacco is hung on metal poles ( Rails ) and most of the time is taken to a barn where the tobacco is removed and hung in the barn .
Sometimes the tobacco is left in the shade to wilt more before handling it in the barns .
It may hold 60 sticks ( 360 Stalks ) of tobacco more or less .

The weird thing is that this farmer had three of these wagons in full sun for the two days I was there.

 

[BigBonner]

The weird thing is that this farmer had three of these wagons in full sun for the two days I was there.

It was probably Burley .
I use flat bed wagons . 20 ft long 8 ft wide . I get about 225 to 250 sticks per wagon . But on my wagons they have to be loaded and unloaded or the tobacco will heat up .
I load late at dark here and unload early in the mornings . If loaded during the day or before 5 pm they have to be unloaded and hung in my barns .