Any one accustomed to the cultivation of the crop, says Bishop, “knows when it is ripe,—the veins of the leaves are swollen, the leaves begin to look spotted and feel thick and gummy. The ends of the leaves will crack on being doubled up. After it is ripe, the sooner it is cut the better, as it is liable to injury by frost or hail, and will not increase in weight as fast as the worms eat it, and the leaves get broken by catching them. The plants will generally ripen from the 1st to the 15th of September; they should not be cut immediately after a heavy rain unless in danger of frost, as a portion of the gum washes out, but should be allowed to stand 2–3 days. The cutting should not begin until the dew is off; a cloudy day is best, for when the sun shines hot, they will not have time to wilt sufficiently before they will sunburn, which may be known by the leaves turning white and looking puckered. Commence on one side of the piece, laying the plants all one way, in order to facilitate loading. The plants may, most of them, be broken off easily, by gently bending them over one way and another. Small plants, which will not break, may be sawed off with an old saw or cut with a hatchet. If the sun shines too hot, the plants should be turned over carefully to prevent burning. After lying an hour or two to wilt sufficiently, so as not to break by handling, they may be carted to the barn.” In the words of Schneider, “when the plant begins to yellow, it is time to put it away. It is cut off close to the ground, by turning up the bottom leaves and striking with a tobacco-knife, formed of an old scythe—such knives as are often used for cutting corn. Let it lie on the ground for a short time to wilt, and then carry it to the tobacco-house, when it may be put away in three different modes, by ‘pegging,’ ‘spearing,’ and ‘splitting.’ Pegging tobacco is the neatest way and best, yet the slowest. It is done by driving pegs about 6 inches long and ½ inch or less square into the stalk, about 4 inches from the big end of the stalk; and these pegs are driven in with a mallet, in a slanting direction, so as to hook on to the sticks in the house. It is then put on to a ‘horse,’ which, by a rope fixed to one corner, is pulled up in the house and there hung upon the sticks, which are regulated at proper distances. A ‘tobacco-horse’ is nothing more than three small sticks nailed together so as to form a triangle, each side being 3–4 feet long. Spearing is the plan I pursue; because it is neat enough and decidedly the quickest plan. A rough block, with a hole mortised in it, and a little fork a few inches from the hole for the tobacco-stick to rest upon, one end being in the hole and a spear on the other end of the stick, is all the apparatus required; the plant is then, with both hands, run over the spear and thus strung upon the sticks, which, when full, are taken to the house and hung up at once. There are ‘dart-spears,’ like the Indian dart, and ‘round spears.’