[Sandy G]

I dunno, guys, I made a livin' offa the Evil Weed most of my life-Either growing it as a crop, or printing labels to package it in. There is hardly anything grown on a farm that is HARDER than raising & harvesting Burley Tobacco-It is quite literally a 13 month, 8 day a week job. It is HIGHLY labor intensive, whether its gassing the beds, settling the seedlings, transplanting them to the actual beds, tending the young plants, "Suckering" then topping them, cutting them around Labor Day, hanging them in the barn to cure, grading them & selling them about Christmastime. During the growing season, they get covered w/a sticky "Wax" which makes them MUCH fun to handle. Its ALWAYS about 1500 degrees in the Backer Patch, the plants themselves are flimsy & easily broken, except, of course, when you're trying to cut off extra stalks-"Suckering", & then cutting the blooms off the top-"Topping". These are designed to make the remaining stalk's leaves to get as large as possible, for the best yield. Whrn you cut the plants about Labor Day, you have to hang them in the rafters of yr barn to let them "Cure". THAT'S Big Fun, too, you're 25' in the air, trying to hoist heavy, sappy tobacco plants & hang them on a too-skinny board, not to fall, & not to bump into the plate sized wasp nest right over there. Its also hotter than hell in there, & a barnful of curing tobacco plants puts out a smell that will make yr eyes water. Aroung Thanksgiving-Christmastime, you then have to unload yr crop from the upper reaches of the barn, & try not to destroy the leaves. If its a hopefully damp day, the tobacco will be "In Case", & you can tie it in knots. Otherwise, it is like any other leaf, dry & brittle. Then you put it in big baskets & haul it to market. Hopefully, the buyers won't find too much to fuss about your crop, & you get a nice fat check for Christmas. But if you honestly put all the time you've spent busting yr butt for that Big Fat Check, you'd prolly find you've earned about .75 an hour...