The maturity of tobacco is defined by Schneider as when the leaves, which have hitherto been green, on holding them “against the sun, show yellowish, reddish, or brownish spots, feel sticky, and when bent break off short and clean. Before this period sets in, the _drying-house_ should be in good order. This house is built to give room for the free hanging up of the tobacco, so that it is protected from the sun, wind, and rain, and is allowed to dry by the free circulation of the air. Any building, therefore, will answer which has a good roof, boarded sides, and enough windows and air-holes (which can be closed at will) to keep up a mild circulation of air inside, and also to keep out strong and too quick drying winds. If the tobacco is grown on a large scale, the house should have large doorways to drive a waggon in and out. There must be sticks all over the house, either cross or lengthwise, and these sticks must be ready and in their places. Now the work of harvesting the crop is commenced on a clear or cloudy but not rainy day. The mature plants (those not ripe are left longer on the field if not too late in the season) are cut off near the ground, two of them tied together by the butt-ends and hung up in the field on riders, which rest on two forks fastened in the ground, and they are left there until evening to wilt; then they are brought to the drying-house and hung up. The tobacco is hung up on the upper sticks first, and the work continued downward; care is taken that the sticks are 6–8 inches apart, also that the plants are not too near together on the sticks, because the air should have free passage among the plants, and when they touch or rub against each other, unsightly spots are produced. The sticks must be pretty wide, so that the two plants which are tied together, and one of which hangs on each side, are held well apart. Later, when the tobacco has dried off somewhat, the sticks and plants may be moved a little nearer to each other; but the plants on the upper sticks must not touch those on the lower; they should be so arranged that one lower stick is just in the middle of the space between two upper ones.”