The dirty demanding work of tobacco comes when the plants
are about two to three feet high. Ivy and I got the less than enviable task of
removing and destroying the Tobacco Hornworm larvae which had a voracious
appetite for tobacco leaves. The process is messy. With the thumb and
forefinger of one hand you grasp the larva near the center of its body. With
the other hand you repeat the process—thus holding it firmly with both hands.
The you pull the larva into two halves—and try not to mind the gooey guts as
they moisten your hands and sometimes squirt on your chest or face. Dirty--?
You agree?
Mostly Mommy and Daddy removed the suckers—until we were considerably
older and more trustworthy. Where the
leaves join the stalks grow suckers which have to be removed. The waxy
substance on the leaves and suckers cling to clothing and hands and face so
thick it could be rolled up into mini balls and dropped to the ground
These two tasks had to be repeated time and time again. When
the plants sent out blooms at the top,
the blooms are cut off. The larvae and sucker removal required continued
attention until harvest time.
At harvest time a tobacco stick (a small pole about six feet
long)is jammed into the ground; a conical metal spear is put on the top. Each
plant is cut, speared onto the stick until the stick was full. Then on to the
next. All full sticks are hauled to the barn, hung up and left for open air
curing.
We had a reprieve from tobacco until the curing was done.
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