As a general rule, Judson Popenoe thinks “tobacco should be cut in about 2 weeks from topping, at which time the leaves assume a spotted appearance and appear to have fulled up thicker; double up the leaf and press it together with thumb and finger, and, if ready to cut, the leaf where pressed will break crisp and short. Do not let your tobacco get over-ripe, or it will cure up yellow and spotted: it is better to cut too soon than too late. Take a hatchet or short corn-knife, grasp the stalk with the left hand, bend it well to the left, so as to expose the lower part of the stalk, strike with the knife just at the surface of the ground, let the stalk drop over on the ground without doubling the leaves under, and leave it to wilt. The usual practice is to worm and sucker while the dew is on in the morning, and as soon as the dew is off to commence cutting. There are some who advocate cutting in the afternoon, say 3 o’clock; let it wilt and lie out until the dew is off next day, and take it in before the sun gets hot enough to burn it. I prefer the first plan, because a heavy dew may fall on the tobacco, and next day be cloudy, leaving the tobacco wet and unpleasant to handle. After cutting, allow the tobacco to wilt long enough to make the leaves tough, so that they can be handled without tearing. Great care is now necessary to keep the tobacco from sun-burning; cutting should be commenced as soon as the dew is off, and all that is cut should be housed by 11 o’clock, unless it is cloudy; from 11 to 2 o’clock the direct rays of the sun on the tobacco, after it is cut, will burn the leaves in 20 minutes; after 2 P. M., as a general thing, there is no danger of such burning, the sun’s rays not striking direct on the tobacco. Have a waggon at hand, with stiff boards, 12 feet long, laid on the running gears; as soon as the tobacco is wilted so that it can be handled without breaking, commence loading on both sides of the waggon on the front end, lapping the tobacco the same as loading fodder, keeping the butts out on both sides—build about 2 feet high, and so on until loaded.”