I've been working on trying to get someone to tie hands of Flue Cured Virginia tobacco for quite a few years and the waiting is finally over. This is the way all tobacco was processed when small farms produced the majority of the tobacco. Many farms were only a few acres, but their tobacco crop represented more than half of the farms annual income. Farmers took great pride in what they produced and graded ever leaf they harvested. After grading, all the tobacco was tied in hands to prepare it for market.
As the country grew and technology took over, tobacco processing became more automated. The new machinery couldn't process the hands without getting bound up and clogged the machines, so big tobacco told the farmers to stop tying the tobacco in hands. Some refused and when there crops were rejected at auction, they quit growing rather than lose the pride they took in their product. Today, almost all tobacco is mechanically harvested and processed. There is a recent post of a video with people stomping on the tobacco to get it to fit in the trailers while being harvested. They never would have done that 50 years ago.
Everybody has heard of the old saying "They don't make 'em like that anymore", well, they're right...until today.
Hand Tied Lemon

Hand Tied Bright Leaf
Both of these tobaccos are excellent smoking tobacco.
As the country grew and technology took over, tobacco processing became more automated. The new machinery couldn't process the hands without getting bound up and clogged the machines, so big tobacco told the farmers to stop tying the tobacco in hands. Some refused and when there crops were rejected at auction, they quit growing rather than lose the pride they took in their product. Today, almost all tobacco is mechanically harvested and processed. There is a recent post of a video with people stomping on the tobacco to get it to fit in the trailers while being harvested. They never would have done that 50 years ago.
Everybody has heard of the old saying "They don't make 'em like that anymore", well, they're right...until today.

Hand Tied Lemon

Hand Tied Bright Leaf
Both of these tobaccos are excellent smoking tobacco.
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