(a) General. Section 13(a)(14) lists a number of operations as being
included in the processing of shade-grown tobacco. Some of these are,
and others are not, themselves ``processing'' in the sense that
performance of the operations changes the natural form of the commodity
on which it is performed. All of the operations named and described in
paragraph (b) of this section, however, are a necessary and integral
part of the overall process of preparing shade-grown tobacco for use as
cigar wrapper tobacco and, when performed as part of that process and
prior to stemming of the tobacco, by an employee qualified under the
terms of the section, will provide the basis for his exemption from the
minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Act.
(b) Particular operations--(1) Drying. Drying includes the removal
or lowering of the moisture content of the tobacco, whether by natural
means or by exposure to heat from ovens, furnaces, etc.
(2) Curing. Curing includes removing the tobacco to the curing shed
or barn and stringing the tobacco over slats.
(3) Fermenting. Fermenting includes the operations controlling the
chemical changes which take place in the tobacco as the result of
bulking and rebulking.
(4) Bulking. Bulking includes piling the tobacco in piles or bulks
of about 4,000 pounds each for the purpose of fermenting the tobacco.
(5) Rebulking. Rebulking includes the breaking down of the tobacco
bulks or piles and rearranging them so that the tobacco on the inside
will be placed on the outside of the bulk and tobacco on the outside
will be placed inside.
(6) Sorting. Sorting includes segregation of the tobacco leaves in
connection with the grading and classifying of the cured tobacco.
(7) Grading. Grading includes sorting or classifying as to size and
quality.
(8) Aging. Aging includes the curing process brought about by
bulking.
(9) Baling. Baling includes the tying of the tobacco into ``hands''
and placing them in bales for shipment.
