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Grading and Tying Hands
The pack house at the Homestead,
constructed during the early 1900s, was used to store cured tobacco until
the leaf was taken to market. While in the pack house, the leaves
were "graded," or sorted, into groups according to
quality. After size, color, and condition determined the grade of
the leaves, they were bound into bundles called "hands."
Periodically during storage and grading, a pit beneath the barn was
utilized for "ordering" of the tobacco, a procedure in which the
leaves were hung to absorb just enough moisture to make the blades pliant.

The pack house at Duke
Homestead.
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