Tobacco Leaves: Being a Book of Facts for Smokers

PLANT OF KENTUCKY TOBACCO
From a Sketch by W. A. Brennan

Tobacco Leaves

Being
A Book of Facts
For Smokers

BY
W. A. BRENNAN
Department of Medical Sciences
The John Crerar Library

PUBLISHED FOR
Index Office, Inc.

BY
The Collegiate Press
George Banta Publishing Company
Menasha, Wisconsin
1915

First issue
December, 1915

Copyright 1915
by
W. A. BRENNAN

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

This little book is intended for the man who uses tobacco. While there is a very extensive literature concerning tobacco, yet it is surprising how few books there are written expressly for the smoker. Much has been written concerning culture, production and manufacture; the historical and anecdotal aspects have been catered for; pamphlets and books abusing and denouncing the use of tobacco are plentiful; but the smoker will find it difficult to get a book just giving him the facts concerning tobacco and smoking, which he ought to know, and omitting matters, which, although interesting, are not necessary. This little book is an attempt to fulfil that purpose; and it is felt that no apology is needed for its appearance. If the average user of tobacco is questioned concerning the matters treated in the following pages, he will be found ignorant of them. This ought not be so. The custom of tobacco smoking is so general and so intimate a part of the daily life of the great majority of men, that a better acquaintance with the plant, its qualities, uses and effects, should be cultivated and welcomed.

No claim is made for originality. The facts here stated have been gathered from various sources and the only credit claimed is for putting them together in a concise and consecutive form. The object aimed at is to give information. Whether the custom of tobacco smoking is desirable, whether in any individual case it would be beneficial or otherwise to smoke—these and similar questions are left to the reader’s own judgment from the facts and opinions presented, as well as from his own observations. The man who uses tobacco daily should know what he is doing. If statements are made either verbally or in print concerning the custom he should be able to verify them or show that they are incorrect. It is trusted that the information given in these pages will enable him to form a clear judgment whatever the judgment may be.

It may be felt that many aspects of the use of tobacco and matters connected with it have either not been touched on, or only referred to very briefly. The reader who may desire further information will find it in the bibliographical references given throughout the book. These references have generally been consulted by the author and his indebtedness is acknowledged here.

To My Wife

CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL—BOTANICAL

HISTORICAL

The history of tobacco commences with the discovery of the New World by Columbus. The Chinese claim that it was known and used by them much earlier, but there appears to be no evidence to support this claim. Columbus found the natives of Cuba smoking the dried leaves, and his followers are said to have brought the plant to Spain about 1512. Oviedo published a book entitled La Historia general de las Indias in Seville in 1526, in which he mentions pipe smoking. It may be inferred that this custom was well established in Spain then. Sir Walter Raleigh is usually credited with having brought tobacco to England for the first time from Virginia in 1586; and the Virginian Colonists are known to have cultivated the plant at that time; but there is evidence enough to show that Sir Francis Drake was the first to introduce the plant into England. Drake’s voyages were made between 1570 and 1580 and he brought the plant with him in one of these. Some give the date of introduction by Drake as 1560. Raleigh was, however, probably the first English distinguished smoker, and he cultivated the plant on his estate at Youghal, Ireland. There is no doubt about the culture of tobacco by the early English Colonists in the U. S., but it is doubtful whether the plant was introduced by them from England or whether they continued a culture learned from the Natives. From Virginia it spread to the other colonies. In Peru and other parts of South America the growing of tobacco was well established at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

In 1560 Jean Nicot, the French Ambassador at Lisbon, sent some tobacco to Catherine de Medici as a cure for headache. Catherine was pleased with it and is said to have become quite addicted to its use. Tobacco was designated the “Queen’s herb” and the “Sovereign herb” from this circumstance and Nicot himself is perpetuated in the word “Nicotine” and its derivatives.

Many persons erroneously give credit to Nicot for the introduction of tobacco into Europe. It is quite clear, however, from Oviedo’s book, quoted above, that the plant was known in Spain very much earlier; and it is most probable that the immediate followers of Columbus brought samples of the leaves and pipes back to Spain with them. Moreover, in 1558, Phillip II of Spain sent Francisco Hernandez, a physician, to investigate the resources, etc., of Mexico, and on his return he brought back tobacco as one of the products, and grew it as a drug. From Spain and England, the use of tobacco spread by degrees all over the known world.

REFERENCES

Penn, W. A. The Soverane Herbe; a history of Tobacco. Chapters I, II. London and New York, 1901.

Bouant, E. Le Tabac; culture et industrie. Paris, 1901.

Shew, Joel. Tobacco; its history, nature and effects on the body and mind. Wortley, 1876.

Billings, E. R. Tobacco; its history, varieties, culture, etc. Chapters II, IV. Hartford, Conn., 1895.

Comes, O. Histoire, geographie, statistique du Tabac. Son introduction et son expansion dans tous les pays depuis son origine jusqu’ à la fin du XIX siècle. Naples, 1900.

Fairholt, F. W. Tobacco; its history and associations. London, 1876.

Wolf, Jakob. Der Tabak und die Tabakfabrikate. Chapter I. Leipzig, 1912.

BOTANICAL

Tobacco belongs to the family of plants known in botany under the name of Solanaceæ. Other well-known members of this family are the Irish potato, the red pepper, the tomato, the egg-plant, etc.

American tobacco belongs almost exclusively to that group of this family which comprise the genus Nicotiana. Of this genus there are about 50 separate species, one of which, Nicotiana Tabacum, supplies almost all the tobacco of commerce. Plants of this species grow from 2 feet to 9 feet in height; they have numerous wide-spreading leaves sometimes as much as 3 feet in length; these leaves may be oval, oblong, pointed, or lanceolate in shape, and are generally of a pale green color when young; they are arranged alternately in a spiral on the stem; the root is large and fibrous; the stem is erect, round and viscid, branching near the top. The alternate arrangement of the leaves on the stalk, succeeding each other spirally, so that the 9th overhangs the 1st, the 10th the 2nd, and so on, is very characteristic. The distance on the stalk between the leaves is about 2 inches. Flowers are in large clusters, with corollas of rose color, or white tinged with pink. The leaves and stalks are covered with soft downy hair. The plant is perennial but crops are usually raised from seed.

Of this species (N. Tabacum) there are probably more than 100 varieties grown in the U. S. alone. Some of the best known will be described later.

To this same species (N. Tabacum) Havana, East Indian and European tobaccos principally belong. The other important species are:

Nicotiana Persica. Grown in Persia. This has a white flower and the leaves almost enwrap the stem. It is used almost exclusively as a pipe-smoking tobacco. Some claim that this is only a variant of N. Tabacum.

Nicotiana Repanda. This is a species of Cuban tobacco entirely different from that grown in the Havana district. It is also called Yara.

Nicotiana Rustica. A kind of wild growing tobacco principally cultivated in Mexico, and which is claimed as the parent of some of the Turkish, Syrian and Latakia tobaccos although many authorities claim that these tobaccos belong to the species N. Tabacum. The European tobacco is hardier than the American parent plant. The leaves are smaller.

N. Rustica. Also includes common Hungarian and Turkish tobaccos. There are large and small leaved varieties.

N. Crispa. Grown in Syria and largely in Central Asia. Used as a cigarette tobacco in the Orient.

It has been stated above that there are many varieties of N. Tabacum in the U. S. Of these the most important are known to botanists by the names, Nicotiana Tabacum Macrophylla and Nicotiana Tabacum Angustifolia.

Maryland tobacco belongs to the Macrophylla variety and there are many other types differing from each other according to shape of the leaf, size of the stalk, etc.

Virginian tobacco is of the Angustifolia variety, and of this also there are many different types.

Most European and other grown tobaccos have been raised from original plants of the Maryland and Virginian varieties.

It should be remembered that there is no essential difference in cigar, pipe smoking or cigarette tobaccos. The differences are physical only. All kinds may be obtained from the same species or even the same variety of the species by suitable culture and crossing.

REFERENCES

Anastasia, G. E. Le varietá della Nicotiana Tabacum. Scafati, 1906.

Comes, O. Delle razze dei tabacchi. Naples, 1905.

Killebrew, J. B. and Myrick H. Tobacco leaf; its culture and cure, marketing and manufacture. Part I. New York, 1897.

Lock, C. G. W. Tobacco growing, curing, and manufacturing. Chapter I. London and New York, 1886.

Wolf, J. Der Tabac. Chapter II. Leipzig, 1912.

Billings, E. R. Tobacco; its history, varieties, etc. Chapter I. Hartford, Conn., 1875.

CHAPTER II

THE CULTIVATION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT

Climatic and Soil Conditions. Treatment of the Growing Plant.
Shade Grown Tobacco. Harvesting.

THE CULTIVATION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT

A few general facts concerning the culture of the tobacco plant and its treatment until it reaches the hands of the manufacturers will be of interest for the smoker.

The general principles underlying the culture of tobacco are the same whether it is intended for the cigar, pipe smoking or cigarette trade; but the treatment of the leaf after it is harvested differs considerably.

Tobacco is a perennial plant. It is, however, usually raised each year from seed. The seedlings are usually ready for planting towards the end of May and are generally planted between the last week in May and the middle of June.

The successful raising of tobacco depends on four principal factors: (1) the climate, (2) the nature of the soil, (3) the seed, and (4) on the method of culture.

The climate must be such as to favor rapid growth and therefore must furnish sufficient heat and moisture during the time the plant is growing. The fineness of the texture and the elasticity of the leaf depend on the climate.

On the soil the plant depends for its food, and for the absorption of those chemical constituents on which depend the burning qualities, the strength and the color.

The physical qualities of the plant, structure and form, thickness of veins, size, shape and distribution of leaves, are derived from the seed.

Finally, on the method of cultivation (including the curing process) depends in part the final color, flavor and aroma; the type and trade value; that is to say, on successful culture and harvesting and treatment at the right time and in the best way, must depend the grower’s hopes of the final value of his crop. The quantity of nicotine, essential oils, etc., on which flavor and strength depend, is regulated to the greatest extent by the time of cutting.

The nature of the soil is a very important matter in the culture of tobacco, for the color of the cured tobacco leaf depends almost entirely on the soil. The light colored leaf is grown on light colored soil and the darker leaf is grown on heavy, dark soil. The best type of soil for the raising of tobacco intended for the cigar trade is a warm, deep, sandy loam which rests on permeable well-drained subsoil. The very light colored yellow tobacco cannot be raised except on light colored, porous soils; and so susceptible is this matter of the coloring of the leaf that it has been noted that the darkening of the soil by a liberal allowance of stable manure will, on a very light colored soil, change the color of the tobacco leaf from a bright yellow to a mahogany shade. Very light sandy soils or very light loams with clayey subsoils are usually chosen for these light yellow tobaccos. Although by processes subsequent to growth it is possible to darken the color of tobacco leaf, there is no known process that will make a dark leaf light in color.

Moreover, the soil must be very fertile and rich in the special substances needed by the growing plant. This is all the more necessary because tobacco is a rapidly growing plant, and reaches its maturity within a few months after its planting. The rapidity of growth therefore demands a rich fertile soil well stored with plant food. Good manuring, or liberal treatment with fertilizers, is essential for keeping such soils in prime condition, because the period of growing must not be extended.

Tobacco is usually planted in rows, the rows being from three to four feet apart, the usual arrangement being that the plants are generally about 12 or 18 inches apart in the row. Some planters, however, give the plants more room for many reasons, varying the distance between the plants even as much as 30 inches. Cigar leaf tobacco plants are usually placed about 14 inches apart.

There are various operations necessary during the growth of the plant. The most important of these for our purpose are those known as “priming” or “thinning out” and “cutting.” Priming is usually done when the plant is well advanced in growth, but the time varies with different growers and according to the species. It consists in removing the lower or imperfect leaves from the plant, or these which have in any way become injured from insect or other harmful agencies. As a general rule the larger the number of leaves there is on a plant the lower is the quality of the subsequently cured leaf. An average of about 10 leaves to each plant is what is favored by most growers, and the plants are usually thinned to this extent. Seed buds are removed also at the same time and for the same reason. If the plants are “thinned” late and when they are approaching full growth the leaves removed are not destroyed, but are cured separately and sold as inferior quality and are usually called “primings” or “planters lugs.”

In the Southern American States the time allowed for the growth and maturing of the plant is somewhat longer than in the eastern and more northerly states where the soil, owing to richer fertilization, favors the rapid growth. Moreover, a stronger quality of tobacco is wanted and the extra time allows the plant to effect a greater elaboration in its cells of the oils and gums, etc., which contribute particularly to strength and flavor.

Shade Grown Tobacco

The matter of rapid growth has, however, its limitations. Too much sunlight is considered a disadvantage. Under such powerful action, nutrition is drawn quickly from the soil and the plants ripen too quickly. Under such circumstances the leaves tend to become heavy bodied and not very large in size. To defeat this tendency and produce large, thin silky leaves for the cigar trade, the grower sometimes covers his field with a tent of cheese-cloth or similar protection from the glare of the sun. The ripening process is thereby slowed and the leaves are thinner, larger and lighter in shade. This method is employed principally in Cuba, Florida and Connecticut where cigar wrapper leaves are produced, and such tobacco is known as shade-grown.

Tobacco which has been planted out at the end of May or early in June is usually ready for harvesting at the end of August or beginning to middle of September. The actual time of harvesting varies a good deal according to the variety grown and the physical condition concerned in the growing of the plant. The heavier tobaccos which are intended for the export trade are usually harvested late. The most important operations connected with the culture of the tobacco leaf are the “yellowing” and “curing” processes, and, as these commence with the cutting of the plant, this latter must be done under strictly favorable conditions in order to insure proper results. The cutting must not be done while the sun is very hot, or while there is rain, or before the plant is fully matured. On the other hand, after the plant has reached its maturity, it must not be allowed to continue its growth, which along with other things would be likely to increase its nicotine content which is not desirable. The experienced tobacco grower knows well from the appearance of the plant when it is best fitted for cutting. The leaves become thick and heavy and assume a drooping appearance. They become crisp with a tendency to break easily, and a mottled, spotty look is noticeable on them. The surface becomes gummy and oily; the oily substances increases and exudates as the days pass. When these signs appear the tobacco is cut on the first day when the weather favors. It is usual in most cases to split the stalks down the middle and allow the leaves to wilt, before the stalk is entirely cut through. After sufficient wilting the leaves are gathered in piles and exposed to the action of the sunlight; or they are stuck by the stalks on poles or framework and so exposed that the sun and air have free access to all parts. This is the best and most approved practice. “Yellowing” of the leaf is very rapid after the plant is cut; it is the natural effect due to cutting off the food supply of the leaf and the consequent slow death of the vitality of the cells. It must be remembered that the leaves are large, varying in size (according to species) from 12 inches to over 2 feet in length. Such a leaf needs a large quantity of food and the sudden cutting off of the supply effects a rapid change in appearance. The leaves are allowed to hang on the scaffolds 3 to 5 days until they are fully yellowed. They are then ready for the process of “curing,” which is the most important operation connected with cultivation. The “curing” and “fermentation” which the leaf undergoes are chemical actions and their success depends on the proper method of “yellowing.” The leaves must not be exposed to the sun too long, because the cells would lose their vitality too rapidly and be unfitted for the new part they have to play in the curing process. The chemical changes will be explained in subsequent chapters. It is desired that the reader should understand that to ensure a successful final issue the planter has need to watch continuously and to know all the conditions. If the leaf does not “yellow” properly no amount of after care in curing will make up for this deficiency. In tobacco growing as in everything else, to ensure final high quality each step in the process must be executed with skill, care, and judgment.

The yield of tobacco per acre varies from about 300 lbs. of leaf in the southern states to 1,000 lbs. or more in the eastern. 700 to 800 lbs. per acre is considered a good average crop.

REFERENCES

Killebrew and Myrick. Tobacco leaf; its culture and cure, marketing and manufacturing. Part I. New York, 1897.

Billings, E. R. Tobacco; its history, varieties, culture, etc. Chapter XIII. Hartford, Conn., 1875.

Laurent, L. Le tabac; sa culture et sa préparation production et consummation dans les divers pays. Paris, 1900.

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers’ Bulletins Nos. 6 and 60. Tobacco.

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of Plant Industry. Bulletin 96. Tobacco breeding.

CHAPTER III

THE WORLD’S PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO

Total production. Countries which cultivate tobacco.
Production in the New World other than in the United States.

THE WORLD’S PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO

The world’s recorded annual crop of tobacco leaf is over one million tons. The latest government figures available are those for 1912 and 1913, and show 2,696,401,379 and 2,722,190,030 lbs. respectively. Of this amount Asia and America produce each about 350,000 tons, Europe about 250,000 tons and the rest of the world the balance.

The details of the production in the U. S. will be given in the next chapter.

The principal Asiatic countries which produce tobacco are China, Japan, Afghanistan, India, Persia and Asia Minor. China has an immense production and consumption of tobacco, a large portion of which finds its way into western markets for the cigar and cigarette trade and is sold as “Turkish” tobacco. No figures as to production are available.

British India and Afghanistan produce good tobacco, a lot of which is used in Hindustan and other Eastern countries.

The Persian crop is known to be large, but there are no available records of it. In Persia most of the tobacco raised is of the species known as Nicotiana Persica. This is generally known under its trade name of Tumbach or Tumbeki (or more correctly Teymbeki). This is the common Eastern name for tobacco. It is considerably exported to the countries in the neighborhood of Persia and is smoked in the pipe known as the Narghilli. In this pipe the teymbeki burns in contact with a piece of incandescent charcoal. The smoker draws the vapor through a flexible tube which passes to the bottom of a water chamber and passes above it, whence it is inhaled. The narghili is technically a water pipe. The teymbeki is very strong in nicotine, containing up to 5 or 6 per cent.

Japan produces large and medium size leaf of good color but poor in quality. It is generally used for pipe and cigarette trade.

The statistics of production for Asia are extremely unreliable. When we consider the teeming populations of China, India and other Eastern countries and the prevalence of the smoking habit, it is very probable that the figure of production (350,000 tons annually) is much under the mark. There is very little export of tobacco from the United States or Europe to the East. Whatever tobacco is consumed there is mostly of its own production.

European Production of Tobacco

In Europe the principal tobacco producing countries are Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Italy and Turkey.

Germany has nearly 40,000 acres under tobacco cultivation in Rhenish Bavaria, Baden, Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine. The annual production is about 50 to 70 million lbs.; and in addition nearly 3 times that much is imported. German home grown leaf is medium to large in size, of fair body, heavy and with coarse veins. It is used for cigar filler and pipe, but is not suited for cigar wrappers. (See the chapter on cigars.)

French tobacco is raised from Virginia seed. It is dark, coarse and heavy and is suitable for plug and snuff making only.

Russia is the largest European producer. Russian tobacco leaf is very large in size and like the French is coarse, dark and heavy and is only fit for plug and snuff making. There is a lighter kind grown from Turkish seed in South Russia which is fit for cigarettes.

Italy has made several attempts to cultivate good tobacco, and several different types are produced. A dark heavy leaf is grown from Virginia seed, and a type from Kentucky seed is also produced. These types are suitable to the dark, heavy fertile soils of Middle and North Italy. In the lighter sandy soil of the south, the varieties grown are raised from Turkish seed and are similar in appearance and quality to the genuine Turkish tobacco.

Hungary is a heavy grower of tobacco and produces some of the best in Europe. There is a heavy dark type, of a rich brown color, medium sized leaf with small and thin veins, which is used in cigar manufacture. A small bright yellow leaf is also grown, poor in quality and aroma, which is used for pipe smoking and cigarettes.

The most important foreign tobacco as regards U. S. consumers is that known as Turkish. The leaves of the Turkish tobacco are small (about 8″ long), clear yellow in color, and have a special aroma, which renders them peculiarly suitable for the manufacturing of cigarettes. The principal producing centers are Macedonia, Albania, Syria, Palestine and Trebizond, that raised in Macedonia being per-haps the most celebrated. Just like the Cuban leaf, the very best grades of Turkish tobacco are not exported, but are kept for domestic consumption.

Latakia tobacco is produced in the northern part of Syria. This tobacco has a very small nicotine content. It is produced by a special fabrication and is in very great demand as an ingredient of pipe smoking mixtures.

The District of Cavalla in the Province of Roumelia, is one of the most important tobacco centers in the Turkish Empire. There are about 75,000 acres under tobacco cultivation and the annual production is about 10,000,000 lbs. The American Tobacco Co. has a large establishment here through which it purchases its Turkish leaf, amounting to over 6 million lbs. yearly, for the manufacture of Turkish cigarettes, etc.

The total importation of Turkish leaf into the United States during 1913 was:

Greece and the Balkan States produce tobacco which partakes of the qualities of Hungarian and Turkish, the Grecian leaf being used a good deal as a substitute for genuine Turkish tobacco.

Tobacco produced in the New World other than in United States

The government of Canada has given a lot of attention to experiments in connection with the growth of tobacco in the Dominion, but only with indifferent success. The leaf is raised principally from Virginian seed, but is large and coarse and is only fit for inferior plug and snuff making.

Cuban Tobacco. The tobacco raised in the Island of Cuba is the most celebrated in the world for cigar making. The leaf is of a rich, brown color; narrow and small in size, varying from 8 to 18 inches in length. Its richness of flavor and the peculiar aroma are its chief characteristics. Cuba produces annually about 300,000 to 500,000 bales of tobacco varying in weight from 80 to 150 lbs. per bale, nearly one-half of which is exported to the United States alone.

The importation of Cuban leaf into the United States over a series of years is shown below:

Cuban leaf imports into the U. S. (lbs.)

The Province of Pinar del Rio produces about 70 per cent of the entire Cuban crop. In this is the District of Vuelto Abajo which is celebrated the world over for the very finest cigar tobacco. The District of Habana or Havana produces about 13 per cent and Santa Clara about 13 per cent. The Cubans themselves favor the dark “Maduro” fully ripened leaves. At present a good deal of Cuban cigar leaf is grown under shade with the result that although when fully mature they are light in color, they are rich in flavor.

The value of the cigar leaf imported by the U. S. from Cuba averages at present about 14 or 15 million dollars annually.

Porto Rican leaf possesses many of the qualities of good Havana leaf, and like the latter is used in cigar manufacture. The annual production is about 120,000 bales. The U. S. imports from 4 to 5 million lbs. annually. Further particulars regarding Cuban and Porto Rican leaf will be given in the chapters concerning cigars.

Mexico produces a tobacco, large as to leaf, dark in color, with heavy body and coarse veins. The tobacco is very strong in flavor. The best grades approach the Cuban tobacco in quality and are imported and used as substitutes for it. The U. S. importation is small. The annual production is about 34 million lbs. The best quality is produced in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz, and only a small portion is exported, principally to Cuba.

Brazilian tobacco leaf is brown in color, medium in size, and medium in body. It possesses fair qualities as a cigar tobacco, for which purpose it is generally used in South America, which is its principal market.

East Indian and Philippine Tobacco

The Dutch East Indies (Sumatra and the adjacent islands) produce yearly about 180 million lbs. of tobacco, all of which is used in the cigar business. Of this the United States takes about from 30,000 to 40,000 bales of Sumatran leaf, about 5½ million lbs. About 2 lbs. of this leaf wraps 1,000 cigars.

The Philippine Islands produce from 50 to 100 million lbs., of tobacco annually. The crop for 1913 was 101,544,736 lbs. The imports into the United States are principally as manufactured cigars by special arrangements which will be referred to later on in the chapter on cigars.

CHAPTER IV

PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO IN THE UNITED STATES

Total production. Amount produced by the different States.
Varieties raised. Description of the different varieties.

PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO LEAF IN THE UNITED STATES

The amount of tobacco leaf raised annually in the United States varies from 700 million lbs. to 1,000 million lbs. Thus, according to the Government Statistical Reports, the production in 1909 was 1,055,764,806 lbs., being an unusually high figure. The production in 1913 was 953,734,000 lbs. and in 1914, 1,034,679,000 lbs. The average crop may be taken as about 800 million lbs., about half of which is exported as leaf, and the other half manufactured in the U. S. into cigars, smoking and chewing tobaccos, etc., and consumed in the U. S. To produce this immense crop over one million acres of rich, fertile land is under culture, the actual government figures for 1913 being 1,216,000 acres, and for 1914, 1,224,000, and the value of the raw crop is from 80 to 100 million dollars, which works out to an average value of from 10 to 12 cents per lb. The cost of producing the best grades of cigar leaf in the Eastern States is from 8 to 10 cents per lb.; in Wisconsin from 5 to 10 cents. The price paid to the growers is from 5 to 15 cents, except for the highest grades (cigar wrapper leaf) for which special prices, up to 40 or 50 cents, may be paid. Smoking and chewing leaf of average grade fetches from 6 to 7 cents per lb.

From these figures it will be seen that the agricultural industry of tobacco growing is a most important one, and it is constantly increasing both in the quantity produced and in value. About 45 of the states in the Union are engaged in tobacco culture, the principal states and the quantities produced being as follows (for 1914):

Virginia was, until recently, the premier tobacco state. Tobacco was first raised in Virginia about 1619 when the quantity produced was about 20,000 lbs. By 1753 the records show that over 50 million lbs. were raised annually, all of which was exported. At this time and until about the period of the Civil War, Europe was dependant more than now on America for her tobacco supply, as at present a considerable part of her needs is supplied by her own production. Tobacco was not grown in Kentucky till about 1785 and a little later in Tennessee and Ohio. The cigar leaf industry of the New England States did not come into activity till about 1830. Cigar leaf was raised in Florida about the same time but was discontinued and was not resumed till fifty years later.

Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee have shown a declining annual production since the Civil War. Thus Virginia in 1860 produced nearly 30 per cent of the total U. S. crop, whereas at present it produces about 12 per cent only. The causes which have contributed to the decline in tobacco culture in the Southern States are the loss of slave labor as well as the loss of capital during the war; more particularly it is due to the impoverishing of the soil without adequate fertilization. Thus with superior fertilization and intensive methods, Massachusetts and Connecticut give 1,750 lbs. to the acre, as against 870 and 580 lbs. for Kentucky and Tennessee. In Massachusetts and Connecticut the cost for fertilizer per farm is $227 as against $17 and $4 respectively in Tennessee and Kentucky. Moreover, the Northern farms are smaller than the Southern.

Varieties of Tobacco raised

The varieties of tobacco raised are mainly of the native American species; but in some states (in Florida particularly) plants are raised from imported Cuban and Sumatran seed, in an endeavor to produce cigar leaf equal in quality to the leaf now imported from these places which commands a high price in the trade. The raising of cigar leaf tobacco from foreign seed began in Florida about 1902; and, although on the whole, the cultivation has been very successful, yet it cannot be said that the hoped for results have been fully realized. It was claimed for the Florida grown Sumatran leaf that in many ways it surpassed the native Sumatran leaf. Certainly the experimental samples of this Florida leaf exhibited by the U. S. at the Paris Exposition of 1900 were judged to be superior both in appearance and style and other matters. However, this superiority does not appear to have been upheld, for in the trade the native grown Sumatran leaf still holds its rank.

Similarly in the case of Florida grown Cuban leaf which at the same Exposition was voted as equal to the native. The native leaf, however, whether due to the soil or not, has a finer flavor and aroma, and the best grades of native grown Cuban tobacco still hold the palm as the premier cigar tobacco of the world.

The leaf raised in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York State, is generally used for the cigar trade (see the chapters on cigars). Ohio and Florida (Cuban seed) leaf mostly used as cigar fillers; Connecticut and Florida (Sumatran seed), Pennsylvania and New York leaf mostly as wrapper leaf, the inferior leaves being used as fillers. Wisconsin leaf is used principally as cigar binder leaf. The total amount of cigar tobacco raised is roughly about one-fifth of the entire tobacco crop.

The southern states produce the bulk of the export dark, heavy leaf. West Kentucky and Tennessee particularly, as well as Virginia, the Carolinas and Maryland, export considerable quantities. This tobacco is fire-cured. For the domestic trade, however, (pipe-smoking, chewing and cigarettes) the tobacco grown in these states is flue-cured, the principal product being of a bright yellow color, characteristic of this region.

This “yellow tobacco belt” extends from the coast across to the North Carolina Mountains, through Tennessee and South Carolina, Southern Virginia, Southern Ohio, a few parts of Kentucky, some of Eastern Missouri and Arkansas. The best soils are those which are of a light sandy or sandy clay nature and they need not be deep or rich. In this region the very finest pipe-smoking tobaccos are raised. Whilst the U. S. has not been able to produce a cigar wrapper tobacco equal in quality to the Cuban or Sumatran, in pipe-smoking and cigarette tobaccos she stands without a rival.

There are about 100 different varieties of tobacco grown in the U. S., many of these being approximately the same and are synonymous. Subvarieties are easily obtained by crossing. Cross-fertilization easily takes place where different strains are produced in the same locality. On this account when it is desired to keep a variety pure, care must be exerted to see that seed is collected from pure strains. On the other hand, the ease of producing new varieties gives opportunity to the various State Agricultural Experimental Stations to try out new strains for desirable qualities. The enumeration of the differences between the various varieties would be tiresome for the reader, yet it will be well for the user of tobacco to know some of these varieties, their characteristics and other particulars concerning them. These are given here:

Leading Varieties of American Tobaccos

Burley. The variety known as White Burley has a long broad leaf, whitish in appearance when growing. The points of the leaf hang down towards the ground when growing, often even touching the ground. The leaf is thin in texture, has a mild flavor, low nicotine content and good absorbing qualities. It is one of the most popular tobaccos in the U. S. and is used for pipe-smoking and chewing tobaccos and cigarettes. It cures to a bright yellow brown color.

There is a variety known as Red Burley which has a thin leaf narrowing from center to top. The leaves are of a characteristic cinnamon color and are more elastic than those of White Burley. Burley tobacco is raised principally in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Missouri and Indiana.

Connecticut Seedleaf. Large, strong leaves, thin and elastic, silky in texture, small fibers, sweetish taste and light in color.

Used in the cigar trade as fillers and wrappers and grown in New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and to a smaller extent in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Florida.

Connecticut Broadleaf. A modification of the above, the leaves being broader in proportion to their length. They are up to 35 inches long and 22 inches wide. Largely used in the cigar trade as filler and wrappers. Both the Connecticut Seedleaf and Broadleaf are superior to the imported Sumatran leaf in flavor and aroma, but are inferior in elasticity and covering qualities.

Grown principally in Connecticut and New York States.

Orinoco. There are 3 varieties of this name: (1) Short Orinoco. Broad leaf, upright growth and open habit, light colored, much ruffled. Grown in Virginia and Missouri. (2) Big Orinoco. Short, broad leaf. Grown in Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. (3) Yellow Orinoco. Long, narrow, tapering leaf with fine texture. The sweetest variety grown. Grown in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Missouri.

Orinoco tobacco leaf is used largely for plug and smoking tobaccos and for the export trade.

Virginian. Sun and air-cured tobacco. Leaf is medium in size. Very bright brown color. Is rich in gums and oils which makes it sweet and fragrant and gives it a pleasant taste. Hence it is a favorite chewing tobacco.

Pryor. There are several varieties under this name: (1) Medley or White Pryor has a very broad leaf with silky texture and tough fiber. (2) Blue Pryor. Large, long fine leaf and good color. (3) Silky Pryor. A long sharp-pointed leaf; grows thin on the stalk; very tough and pliant. (4) Yellow Pryor. Heavy, wide leaf, fine bright color, tough and weighs well.

Pryor is used principally for the export trade and to some extent also in the home trade both for cigar and plug and smoking tobaccos. It is grown generally throughout Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana, the White variety being extensively grown in Virginia.

Little Dutch. A very favorite pipe-smoking tobacco. It has a small nicotine content (less than 1%). The leaf is small; narrow, thick and short; dark brown in color, glossy surface and sweet in taste. It is grown extensively in the Miami Valley of Ohio.

Sumatra Seed. Grown principally in Florida from imported Sumatran seed. The leaf is light in weight and color, not long compared with other seedleaf varieties. Very narrow and with fine ribs. Used in cigar trade and grown extensively also in the New England states.

Cuban Seed. This has the usual qualities of Cuban tobacco but with inferior fragrance and aroma to the native grown. Principally raised in Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Florida for the cigar trade.

Perique. A special variety of tobacco grown only in a small area of Louisiana. The leaf is medium in size, has a fine fiber with small stems. Tough, gummy and glossy. It is grown in a deep, rich soil and grows very rapidly. Its special characteristics are acquired in the curing, which is a special process peculiar to itself, and which will be described in the chapter on Manufactured Tobaccos.

REFERENCES

Yearbooks of the United States Department of Agriculture. 1914 and previous.

Hoagland, I. G. The Tobacco Industry. In Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association. 1907. Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 4.

Jacobstein, M. The Tobacco Industry in the United States. New York, 1907.

Billings, E. R. Tobacco; its history, varieties, culture, manufacture and commerce. Hartford Conn., 1875.

CHAPTER V

THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT

Organic and inorganic matters contained in Tobacco and the parts they play.
Analysis of various Tobaccos. Nicotine.

THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT

The tobacco plant when subjected to chemical analysis is found to contain all or most of the following substances:

Mineral Bases. Potash, Lime, Magnesia, Oxides of Iron and Manganese, Ammonia, Silica.

Mineral Acids. Nitric, Hydrochloric, Sulphuric and Phosphoric.

Organic Base. Nicotine.

Organic Acids. Malic, Citric, Acetic, Oxalic, Pectic and Ulmic.

Other Organic Substances. Nicotianin, Green and Yellow Resin, Wax and Fat, Nitrogenous Substances and Cellulose.

The substances which differentiate tobacco from other plants and form its chief characteristics are Nicotianin, Nicotine and Malic Acid.

The percentage in which the important substances exist in tobacco is given below:

When tobacco is burned, chemical changes occur; the organic and other compounds are decomposed. The volatile matters pass off in the smoke if the combustion is complete, and the mineral ash remains. In ordinary pipe or other tobacco smoking, however, the combustion is not complete and many decomposition products remain with the mineral ash.

In tobacco smoke the following can usually be found: Furfurol, Marsh Gas, Hydrogen Sulphide, Hydrogen Cyanide, Organic Acids, Phenols, Empyreumatic Oils, Pyridine, Picoline Series and possibly some Nicotine.

The ash left after complete combustion is important, as much of the smoking qualities of the tobacco depends on its constituents. An average sample gives the following analysis (in 100 parts):

Average mineral contents of tobacco ash

Remarks on Some of the Substances Found in Tobacco

Nicotine

Of all the substances found in tobacco, nicotine is the most important.

Nicotine in the pure state is a colorless liquid having a specific gravity of 1.027. It is an organic base having the chemical formula C₁₀H₁₄N₂. It is extremely acid and burning to the taste, and is a virulent poison. It easily volatilizes; is inflammable, and is soluble in water, alcohol, ether and some fixed oils. Nicotine has the characteristic peculiar odor of tobacco.

The amount of nicotine in tobacco is said to depend on the nature of the soil in which it is grown; rich, heavy soils and strong nitrogenous manuring favor the production of a large nicotine content; and light, sandy soils the opposite.

Moreover the nicotine content depends on the age and development of the plant.

An investigation by Chuard and Mellet showed nicotine contents of leaves:

The longer the plant is permitted to grow the larger will be its nicotine content.

Schlössing has made a similar investigation and found that in the same plant the nicotine content varies from 0.79% when young to 4.32% when fully matured. Most nicotine is found in the ribs and veins.

H. B. Cox (American Druggist V. 24, 1894, p. 95) investigated the nicotine contents of various manufactured tobaccos. These were not “proprietary tobaccos” but samples obtained from different sources at random. His results are given here:

Nicotine Contents of Different Tobaccos

The average of a number of samples of Syrian tobacco showed 1 to 2% nicotine, Manila and Havana 1 to 3%, Virginia and Kentucky from 2 to 7%, and French tobaccos about 9%.

Most of the nicotine in tobacco becomes volatilized and decomposed during combustion; a small part, however, may form a solution with the water which is also one of the combustion products. One of the decomposition products of nicotine is

Pyridine

Pyridine is usually found in tobacco smoke. When condensed it is a colorless non-oily liquid and is considerably less toxic than nicotine.

Reference will be made later on to the effects of nicotine and pyridine on the human system.

Potash

Potash is important as on its amount depends the burning qualities of the tobacco. It is sometimes present in the ash to the extent of 30%, being converted into potassium carbonate by burning. Not only for free burning is the potash valuable, but also for the better volatilization of the nicotine and other substances. The more perfect the combustion, the fewer deleterious compounds are formed.

Chlorides, if present, retard the burning of the tobacco, and hence a tobacco which contains a high percentage of chloride, even if it is rich in potash salts, is a poor burning tobacco and therefore faulty. While it is important that the burning should be free and the volatilization as perfect as possible, yet the smoker does not want his tobacco to burn too rapidly. To meet this some manufacturers prepare “slow burning” tobaccos generally by the addition of some chemical which checks the potash.

The aroma and flavor of the tobacco depend to a great extent on the waxes, resins and oils, as well as on certain of the organic acids.

REFERENCES

U. S. Dispensatory. 1907 (19th Edition).

Kissling. The Chemistry of Tobacco. Scientific American (Supp.) 1905, Vol. 60, No. 1560.

Chuard & Mellett. Variation de Nicotine dans les differents organes de la plante de Tabac. Comp. Rend. Acad. d. Sc. (Paris) 1912. Vol. 155, p. 293.

Pezzolato, A. Conferenza Sulla Chimica applicato alla technologia del Tabacco. (Rome. 1903.)

Wolf, Jacob. Der Tabak und die Tabak fabrikate. Chapter III. Leipzig, 1912.

Schlossing. Sur la production de la nicotine par la culture du Tabac. Compt. Rend. Acad. d. Sc. (Paris), 1910. Vol. 151, p. 23.

CHAPTER VI

THE CURING OF TOBACCO LEAF

Objects of curing. Methods.

THE CURING OF TOBACCO LEAF

The “curing” of tobacco leaf is the process of drying out which has for its object the following specific actions:

(1) The expelling of the sap and superfluous moisture.

(2) The completion of the “yellowing” process and the fixing of the desired color.

(3) The preservation of the juices, etc., which give the characteristic flavor and aroma.

(4) To give the necessary toughness and suppleness to the leaf.

The first part of the curing is done by the grower in curing sheds on the farm immediately after the cutting of the crop; the final part, or the fermentation part is usually done by the leaf dealer or manufacturer in special buildings called leaf-houses.

There are three methods of curing in use by the growers, i. e., sun curing, air curing, and artificial heat curing. In the case of the tobacco known as Perique the curing process is more or less peculiar to itself. “Sun” and “air” curing are much slower processes than the curing by artificial heat.

All cigar leaf tobacco is sun-cured, and as a general rule pipe smoking and chewing tobacco are cured by artificial heat.

For the purpose of drying and curing by artificial heat, the leaf is hung up in specially constructed curing houses or sheds. It is found that after the exposure to the sun for the first process of “yellowing” tobacco leaf still contains 1 lb. of water approximately in each plant. The first part of the process of curing consists in drawing off this superfluous moisture. Dry heat is applied at a temperature of 90° F. to 120° F. for about 16 to 30 hours to effect this. A further exposure of about 48 hours at a temperature of 125° or so is necessary to complete the curing, and fix the color.

The stems and stalks being thicker take a longer time and generally require 9 to 10 hours further exposure and a temperature which may range as high as 175° F. before they are fully cured, the temperature being graded hourly until the maximum necessary is reached.

The process of curing varies considerably in different states. Some growers prefer to put the tobacco into the sheds immediately after cutting, and allow very little exposure in the fields. The temperature is usually kept steady at about 90° F. Again the process is different according to the quality of tobacco required. For the heavy type of leaf which is intended for the export trade, the curing in the sheds is done by an open fire, the fuel being usually hardwood logs. The smoky, creosotic flavor is absorbed by the leaf, and, although this flavor is not relished by the smokers of the U. S., it is much liked in Europe. The curing in such cases may last for 4 or even 5 days. The tobacco is suspended on poles by the stalks and the fires are built on the floor immediately under them so that the carbonaceous products are easily absorbed by the open pores of the leaf.

The chewing and pipe smoking tobacco, as well as cigarette tobaccos including all the bright yellow tobaccos used in the U. S. are usually cured by Flue curing. In this case the heat comes from pipes which run around the curing houses and are fed from a furnace in an adjoining chamber or in a cellar. The temperature can be easily regulated. “Flue” curing is generally completed in about 4 days. “Flue” curing does not clog up the pores of the leaf which therefore remain more absorbent than in the open fire cured tobacco. This is an important matter for the manufacturers because the flue cured leaf will absorb twice as much of the flavoring sauces (which are added to certain kinds of tobacco) than tobacco leaf cured by open fires.

Air exposure of 6 to 8 weeks (sometimes extended to 3 or 4 months) is necessary when tobacco is cured by exposure to the sun and air. It is claimed, however, that this method of curing preserves far better the natural flavor of the leaf; and, where flavor and aroma are highly important, this method is always preferred. Hence all cigar leaf tobaccos are cured by exposure to natural sunlight and not by artificial heat.

“Air” curing as distinct from sun curing is generally done in open sheds which are thoroughly ventilated and kept as far as possible at a temperature of about 75° F. The leaf is usually allowed to cure while attached to the stalk, but Florida curers generally prefer to strip the leaf and treat it separately. The finer classes of pipe smoking tobaccos are air cured.

After the curing is completed the color of the leaf is usually fixed. Generally speaking, the riper the leaf the lighter will be its color when cured. Thus the bottom leaves of the plant will be lighter in color than the upper leaves because they are more mature.

(For references see [end of Chapter VIII])

CHAPTER VII

THE MARKETING AND SALE OF TOBACCO LEAF

Methods of disposal by the grower. The Warehouse system. Direct purchase.
Principal markets in the United States. Prices.

THE MARKETING AND SALE OF TOBACCO LEAF

When the tobacco leaf is fully cured it is at once prepared for the market. The first step is the planters’ classification of the leaf. In the case of pipe smoking and chewing tobacco the planter collects all the imperfect, injured leaves, or those inferior from any cause, and ties them in bundles. These are the planters lugs. All other grades are leaf. Slightly injured leaves are classed as low-leaf or seconds. The others are classed medium, good, fine and selected leaf, according to grade, color, quality, etc.

In the case of cigar leaf tobacco a similar classification is made, more care being taken owing to the very great difference in price between the better and poorer qualities. This difference may be as much as 20c in the lb., the finer and more suitable leaf being eagerly sought for.

Pipe smoking and chewing tobacco leaf is usually packed in hogsheads or cases each weighing from 1,000 to 1,400 lbs. The operation of packing the leaf is called “prizing.” Cigar leaf is usually put up in “hands.” A “hand” consists of from 25 to 75 leaves tied together. Four hands tied together make a “carrot” and 80 carrots go to the bale, but the size of the bale varies considerably. The tobacco is then ready for the buyer.

There are two systems of disposing of the planters’ product: (1) direct purchase by the manufacturer or by a middleman from the grower; and (2) what is known as the warehouse system. In the southern states the warehouse system prevails. Every important tobacco section in the south has its public warehouse which is under the control and supervision of state law. Many of these warehouses are long established, that at Richmond, Va., dating as far back as 1730, and those at Louisville and Clarksville about 1839.

On appointed days the planter brings his leaf to the warehouse. Here it is entered as “loose leaf” or “inspected leaf.” In the case of loose leaf, the tobacco is open to the inspection of prospective buyers, who examine it and afterwards bid on it. In the case of “inspected leaf” the warehouse officials first examine the consignments, grade them and mark them according to their judgment, taking samples. The samples are open to buyers’ inspection and form the basis of sale. Tobacco auctions are regularly held when the buyers assemble and bid on the “loose leaf” and “inspected” lots. Prices of the various grades are fixed and sales take place at the day’s price.

The principal tobacco markets are:

For Kentucky and Tennessee—At Louisville, Clarksville and Cincinnati.

For Maryland and Ohio—At Baltimore.

For North Carolina—At Durham and Winston.

For Virginia—At Richmond.

The warehouse system has the great advantage that the proceedings are open and the prices are recorded and published. Hence growers can know how the market fluctuates and judge the best time for sale. This is not the case when the sale is private between the buyer and seller as is customary in the eastern and northern states. Here the price actually received by the grower is often different from that given out as paid.

The price of tobacco leaf has had many vicissitudes during the past 25 years, the price often having reached so low a point as to discourage producers. Thus at Winston, N. C., the price has gradually fallen from 12.3c per lb. in 1889 to 6.3c in 1896. In the same period Burley leaf at Louisville and Cincinnati fell from 10c to 7½c. Prices similarly dropped in other centers. The price of cigar leaf has latterly increased. In 1900 prices ran from 6 to 15 cents; in 1905 from 8 to 17 cents. Many conditions at home and abroad affect the price, such as bad harvests or inferior grades of produce.

The tobacco trust has been very unjustly blamed by many for the falling price of tobacco. As a matter of fact and record, however, the concentration of buying power by eliminating the middleman and the small dealers has not only placed the grower in a better position by giving him a better price, as recent records show, but it has benefited the consumer also who can obtain the superior grades at a lower price. It is the middleman’s profit that has been cut. Moreover, the concentrated buying power of the large interests here has been an effective force in keeping up tobacco leaf prices against the foreign buyers. It must be remembered that about half of our crop is exported. The buyers of this portion, who are principally the agents of foreign governments (in the cases where tobacco is a government monopoly as in France, Italy, etc.) assemble at the auctions and bid in the usual way. As this competition is very limited there is always an opportunity for such buyers to agree among themselves as to the limit of prices. This has been one of the important factors which has kept the prices of tobacco leaf down. The concentration of American buying power has, however, been a formidable check on it, the prices received by the growers being now fair and reasonable, and such as are the result of a healthy market, where the factors of supply and demand have their full share of effect.

The government statistics show that for 1914 the prices of leaf varied from 5.5c to 20c for common to good varieties.

(For references see [end of Chapter VIII])

CHAPTER VIII

REHANDLING AND FERMENTATION OF TOBACCO LEAF PRIOR TO MANUFACTURE

Selection of leaf. Treatment and Blending.
Objects and methods of Fermentation. Action of microbes.

REHANDLING AND FERMENTATION OF TOBACCO LEAF PRIOR TO MANUFACTURE

We have seen how the tobacco passes from the grower to the manufacturer or leaf dealer. Before it is fitted, however, for manufacture into cigars or other finished products the leaf must go through many processes, the most important of which is fermentation. These processes, which are usually known as rehandling, are carried out in special buildings which are called leaf houses and stemmeries. The procedures in different leaf houses may vary somewhat, but the general principles and objects in view are the same in all. Moreover, the treatment is different, according to the ulterior disposition of the leaf, i. e. whether intended for cigars, pipe smoking or other product.

The general treatment as carried out in large establishments is about as follows:

The leaf as soon as it is received whether in casks, cases, bales, or otherwise is opened up and inspected in the casing room. Large concerns which manufacture or deal in cigar and other kinds of leaf, sort out the different kinds suitable for each class of product, i. e. wrappers, fillers, binders, cigarette leaf, plug leaf, etc. These are distributed to either special houses or departments. The tobacco leaf when first received is usually dry and brittle. The bundles are carefully opened up and the leaves loosened and spread out on large trucks where they are sprayed with water. When the leaf has soaked the water and is pliable it undergoes a sorting which is done by selecting leaves from different cases or even bundles of leaves and in a general way arranging them so that each truckfull represents a blend of the different kinds of leaf which are suitable for the purpose in view. These sorted packages are then roughly fastened together and after being again sprinkled thoroughly are sent to the “sweating” room to undergo fermentation which may last several weeks. The temperature of this room must be carefully regulated and is usually kept at about 90° F.

The selection and blending of the different kinds of leaf is most important. It requires accurate and expert knowledge in choosing leaves and kinds possessing different strengths and other qualities and in combining them in such proportions that the final effect of the blend gives just what is required.

It is particularly in this expert treatment of the leaf before manufacture that the greatest advance has been made in the tobacco industry. The smoker has the advantage and satisfaction of knowing that not only does he get the benefit of improved scientific knowledge and sanitary conditions by which anything that might be harmful or undesirable is removed, but that handling the leaf in large quantities effects great economics and procures for him the benefit of choicest selected grades at a reduced cost.

It may be said here incidentally that leaves of the very best tobaccos which are defective merely in size, or color, etc., are put through exactly the same processes as the choicer quality leaves, and are used in the manufacture of the popular priced machine-made “little cigars” and “cheroots.”

It will be necessary now to digress for a short time and consider what happens during the process of fermentation.

Fermentation of Tobacco

The fermenting of tobacco leaf has for its principal objects, (1) the removal of acrid matters, (2) the fixing of the color, and (3) the production of flavor. Fermentation can only take place under suitable conditions of heat and moisture, and is essentially a chemical process during which certain organic compounds stored in the plant are split up and others formed.

A certain amount of fermentation takes place in the curing houses during the “yellowing” of the leaf after it has been harvested, but as we have seen the main process of fermentation does not occur until it is “rehandled” by the manufacturers.

The general opinion held at present as the result of investigation is that the transformations which are effected in the leaf are purely the result of chemical processes. As the plant slowly dies and decomposes special ferments are produced. These ferments set up an oxidization process which splits up the complex organic compounds which still exist in the leaf cells. The starch in the plant is changed into sugar which is slowly consumed. There is a decrease in the fats and gummy substances, also in nicotine and nitrogenous compounds, and there is a formation of certain organic acids such as malic, citric and oxalic which are essential in the production of flavor. Briefly it may be said that the process is an attempt by the plant to prolong its existence by feeding on its own substance, by drawing on its own reserves and on its own structure for the food which its cells no longer receive through the natural growing process. When the struggle is over the “fermentation” is complete. The necessity for maturing tobacco has long been known but the exact nature of the changes that take place during the process were not understood. Since the discoveries of Louis Pasteur regarding the part played by bacteria in general fermentative processes it has been generally claimed by bacteriologists that the changes wrought in the leaf and the production of flavor are solely the work of bacteria. Although this view has not been proved it has never been fully disproved, and there appears to be no doubt that the microbes known to exist in the leaf during the fermentation process play an important part in the process. Fermentation can only take place as stated under suitable conditions of heat and moisture and these are the conditions which favor the development of microbes and enable them to work. The results obtained are probably partially due to chemical action and partly to bacterial action, the two being complementary to each other.

In 1899 Suchsland, a German scientist, startled the tobacco world by asserting that the flavor of tobacco was in no way due to the effects of the soil and climate where it was grown, but was solely due to microbic action, and that the specific flavor and aroma of any given tobacco could be artificially produced by the cultivation of selected bacteria and allowing the tobacco to cure and ferment under their action. He conducted a series of experimental investigations in which he searched for and isolated the specific microbes found in the best West Indian tobacco. From these he made artificial cultures and introduced them into heaps of inferior, coarse German tobacco which was undergoing curing. His results were such that the smoking quality of the leaf was entirely changed. It could scarcely be distinguished from the best Cuban tobacco and experts and connoisseurs failed to identify the product as German tobacco. A company was formed to exploit the new ideas commercially, but it does not appear to have met with success. Other investigations failed to obtain Suchsland’s results and extensive investigation in the Agricultural Experimental Station in the United States have not up to now produced any results confirmatory of the theory.

We can now proceed to follow the course of the tobacco in its peregrinations through the leaf house.

On their return from the first fermentation the bundles go to the picking department. Leaves which are damaged or unsuitable in any way are here picked out and put aside to be used in the cheaper grades. The leaves are then subjected to a thorough cleaning to remove particles of sand, clay, etc., packed tightly in bundles and returned to the sweating department to undergo further fermentation and to allow for a thorough interchange of the aroma of the different blends. In due course the bundles pass to the stemming department for the removal of the midribs which usually form nearly one-third of the entire weight. The resulting half leaves are then arranged in piles of 50, each pile forming a “book.”