Conventionally, burley tobacco is cured under the diurnal changes of temperature and humidity in the open air. It has been confirmed that the smoking quality characteristics of burley tobacco are formed through repetition of dehydration under higher temperature and lower humidity during the day-time, and moisture absorption under lower temperature and higher humidity during the night-time. Therefore, a bulk curing process with cyclic changes of temperature and humidity was examined in order to rationalize and stabilize curing for burley tobacco. The features of this curing method were as follows : a bulk curing equipment for flue-cured tobacco was employed; loading density was 100 kg/m2 of green leaves; a fan heater automatically repeated operation and stopped at 2-hour intervals; temperature, humidity and wind velocity during operation were 35.degree.C, 70% R.H., 0.17 m/s, respectively; a supersonic humidifier was activated during stoppage time of the fan heater in order to accelerate moisture absorption by leaves; at the end of browning stage, leaves were transferred into conventional plastic barns for drying midribs. The results indicated that burley tobacco cured by the new bulk curing method was nearly equivalent in smoking quality to that cured under natural conditions in conventional plastic barns. Although the new bulk-curing did not show much effect on shortening curing duration, the loading density was approximately five times as much as that under conventional curing. It is expected to produce high quality cured leaves at lower curing cost using this method.