Tobacco curing taps the sun

(Charlotte Observer) The same sun that gave rise to N.C. tobacco fields for generations may give new energy to the curing process.
Bob Pope, owner and general manager of Eastern Carolina Manufacturing Co. in Edgecombe County, is putting solar strength to use curing tobacco in specially built barns. ... "Data from 2009 indicate an average gain in curing efficiency of 29 percent over seven cures," Reed said. Continued

Photo: Ten year old son of tobacco tenant tends the fire which is curing the tobacco in the barn, 1939 (Dorothea Lange/FSA/Library of Congress).