I don't know how it is done these days either, and I don't remember a lot about long ago,,,,,,, but I have cousins in middle TN, that do it the same way as(their fathers) my unkles did.... Let me know,,,,,,,,, Florence Yes for the second drying they wet the tobacco. This I know had to be done to perfection.. It was so the leaves didn't get to dry, and crumble up. Perhaps they were for outer cigarettes and/or cigars. I just don't know..Most of the tabacco my George family grew/grows was "burley" That has not changed. > Florence, > When I was a kid we still tied burley by hand and it was graded by the type > of leaf and the color. Tips were on the top and were small - I think the > brights were real red or gold and they went for making cigars. The trash or > ground leaves were all sorted together. I was told this was what went into > the cheapest cigarettes. > > In Eastern Kentucky we didn't grade as it was hung - we waited till it came > into case - was properly cured and they pulled each leaf off the stalk and > sorted by the different grades. I don't remember taking it down and > rehanging it, though. > > Once we had a good size pile we would tie "hands" of that pile. One leaf > was used to wrap around the stem ends to make a bundle. The hands were put > in a press and pushed down tight. > > Folks sort and grade way different now. The farmer no longer ties it into > hands - they just bale it now. I really don't know how they grade or sort > these days. > > Stephen Hollen > Appalachian Storyteller &Mountain Humorist > My Daddy says Happiness is like Moonshine; Make your own and you'll never > run out. > www.mountainstories.com > online journal: http://mountainstories.easyjournal.com