Tobacco Leaves Part 9

PORTO RICO CIGARS

From Porto Rico the U. S. ships about 125 million cigars annually.

PHILIPPINE CIGARS

The laws in force between the U. S. and the Philippine Islands, governing the tariff, provide for the importation annually from the Philippines to the U. S. free of import duties, of cigar wrapper leaf and filler leaf mixed or packed with more than 15 per cent of wrapper leaf, not in excess of 300,000 lbs.; of filler leaf alone not in excess of 1,000,000 lbs.; and manufactured cigars in number not exceeding 150,000,000. The shipping must be direct.

As the Philippine leaf is excellent and labor there is cheap, the U. S.

smoker is thus enabled to get a very good smoke at a small cost. The full number of cigars allowed at least is imported. In 1913 the importation of Philippine cigars and cheroots to the U. S. was 1,641,832 lbs. valued at $2,296,823.

HOME MANUFACTURED CIGARS

For the home manufactured cigar trade the leaf used is either imported or home grown.

Imported cigar leaf comes princ.i.p.ally from Cuba, Dutch East Indies (Sumatra, Java, etc.), Porto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines.

Imported Cuban leaf is used both as fillers and wrappers. The U. S. as already stated imports about 26 million lbs. annually. The leaf varies in length from 8" to 18"; is a rich brown color, and its princ.i.p.al characteristic is its fine flavor and aroma, which is unequalled by any other tobacco in the world.

The Sumatran leaf is perhaps more important in the U. S. cigar trade than the Cuban leaf. It is used exclusively as wrappers, on account of its fine light brown color, its elastic texture and light weight. The genuine imported leaf is much less in weight than that grown from Sumatran seed in Florida. About 2 lbs. of imported Sumatran leaf will wrap 1,000 cigars.

Its length is usually from 14 to 20 inches and the U. S. imports annually about 7 million lbs., valued at about 5 million dollars. The use of Sumatran leaf as a wrapper for home-made cigars has increased remarkably in the last quarter century. In the quinquennium ending 1885 the number of such cigars was 34 millions. In the last quinquennium the number exceeded 2,000 millions.

The Sumatran leaf has little aroma or flavor and its value is for appearance only. The average prices paid by the United States for imported cigar leaf in 1914 was: for leaf suitable for cigar making, 127c per lb.; for "other leaf," 50.44c per lb.

OTHER IMPORTED CIGAR LEAF

Since the introduction of tax-free manufactured cigars from the Philippines the importation of leaf has declined.

Mexican leaf is used as a subst.i.tute for Cuban, to which it is inferior.

The imports of cigar leaf tobacco from Porto Rico and Brazil are relatively unimportant.

CIGAR LEAF TOBACCO GROWN IN THE U. S.

The home grown tobacco leaf used in the cigar manufacturing trade of the U. S. is grown princ.i.p.ally in the states of Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. The Connecticut leaf is used for wrappers and binders. The Ohio and Pennsylvania leaf almost exclusively for fillers. Wisconsin produces binder leaf particularly. The leaf grown elsewhere is used mostly as wrappers. It is usual, however, to use the imported and Sumatran leaf as wrappers for all high cla.s.s home-made cigars.

The finest American grown wrapper leaf is raised in Connecticut. The best known brands are known as Connecticut Seedleaf and Connecticut Broadleaf, both varieties raised originally from imported Havana seed. The leaf is dest.i.tute of thick fibers and has a fine texture. They run from 14" to 26"

in length, giving good wrapping capacity.

The Pennsylvania leaf is also cla.s.sed as Seed and Broadleaf. It is about the same size as the Connecticut, but does not equal it in quality. The princ.i.p.al varieties in Ohio are the Gebhardt, Zimmer, Spanish, and Little Dutch. These do not usually exceed 20" in length. Florida cigar leaf is usually small, running from 10" to 14" in length.

(_For references see Chapter XV_)

CHAPTER XIII

PIPE SMOKING AND CHEWING TOBACCOS

QUALITIES REQUIRED. DESCRIPTION OF KINDS. PERIQUE TOBACCO. STATISTICS.

PIPE SMOKING AND CHEWING TOBACCOS

For pipe smoking mixtures the tobacco leaf used is of various kinds.

Preferred strains of leaf from Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, and East Ohio, to which is added sometimes Turkish, Latakia, Perique, and a little Havana. The blend is made while the tobacco is in leaf form, portions of the desired kinds being a.s.sembled in accordance with a formula followed by the manufacturer. The leaf is then put through the required mechanical processes.

The qualities necessary in pipe smoking tobaccos are that it must burn evenly, slowly, smoothly and thoroughly; it must have an agreeable aroma; it must not cause a burning or acrid sensation in the mouth when smoked; it is desirable that its nicotine contents should be low. Appearance is not of any consequence, but the manufacturer looks for leaf that, in addition to the above qualities, is free from gumminess as this interferes with granulation and cutting; also that the leaf may be a good absorbing kind in order that it may imbibe the juices with which this cla.s.s of manufactured tobacco is treated both for chewing and pipe smoking.

As the taste of smokers with regard to the flavor and aroma of pipe tobacco varies considerably, some desiring a strong, others a mild or light tobacco, this must be taken into account by the manufacturer and the blends graded accordingly.

Pipe smoking tobaccos are distinguished according to the different mechanical processes used in their production. Thus there are (1) _Granulated_, (2) _Plug-cut_, (3) _Long-cut_, (4) _Fine-cut_, etc. In former days it was customary for smokers to buy their tobacco in the roll or twist and cut and manipulate it themselves. This custom has, however, pa.s.sed away almost entirely in the U. S. It still survives to a large extent in Europe where smokers prefer their tobacco moist. In the U. S.

pipe smoking tobacco is usually cut and ready for the pipe and sold in packages or cans.

GRANULATED is tobacco that has been flaked by breaking or cutting machines with blunt teeth or saws and then pa.s.sed over a series of oscillating sieves of graded mesh.

PLUG-CUT or CUT-PLUG is first made into plugs by pressure. These plugs are then cut into thin slices convenient for crumbling. The slices are put up in packages in which form the smoker uses it. Special forms of cut-plug are, bird's-eye, short-cut, cube-cut, straight-cut, curly-cut, wavy-cut and cavendish-cut; the name being determined by the shape of the cut slices. "Navy-cut" is a particular kind of plug which was originally prepared directly by shipmen.

LONG-CUT tobacco is leaf cut into long shreds. It differs from plug-cut in not having been pressed into solid plugs before cutting.

FINE-CUT is finer and shorter shreds than the long-cut, and the tobacco used is usually of a less gummy kind.

Other varieties known in the trade are:

GERMAN SMOKING. A coa.r.s.e-grained, heavy tobacco with strong flavor. It is a coa.r.s.e granulated tobacco.

STRIPS. A fine shredded or powdered tobacco used princ.i.p.ally in the mining camps of Pennsylvania.

Sc.r.a.p. Smoking tobacco made up from cigar clippings and cheap cigar leaf of the filler and binder type.

PERIQUE TOBACCO

Perique tobacco is a specially dark, rich variety having special qualities which render it desirable as a component in pipe smoking mixtures, or for straight smoking. Genuine Perique is grown and prepared only in the Parish of St. James in the State of Louisiana by the descendants of the old French Colonists. The properties which it possesses are essentially due to the peculiar method of curing and fermentation and not to any peculiarity in the leaf itself. It is the only tobacco in the United States that is grown and put in its final condition for the consumer by the farmer. It is said that the output of genuine Perique is small, being well under 50,000 lbs. annually. But there is a good deal of subst.i.tute Perique sold in lieu of the genuine kind.

The tobacco is raised on a black, deep, exceedingly rich soil. The leaf is medium in size, about 18" long, and a rapid grower. The stem is small, the fiber tough and gummy.

In curing no artificial heat is used. The leaf is hung in sheds for about 10 days. It is then stripped into half leaves. These are taken in bundles of about 20 each and converted into rough "twists." A dozen or so "twists"

are packed in a box 11" square the weight being about 50 lbs. The contents of the box are then submitted to a pressure of about 7000 lbs. for at least 24 hours. The tobacco is then taken out and the twists again opened up. The leaves are exposed to the air and sunlight until an exudate appears on them and is reabsorbed. This is done over and over again for at least 10 days or until in appearance the tobacco is quite black. That is to say the curing of Perique is accomplished by allowing it to soak its own juice and then submitting to heavy pressure and repeating this process several times. When the leaf is cured it is made into rolls or "carottes."

A cotton cloth 24" x 18" is taken and covered with leaves. Others are spread crosswise over these. Then rolled and a thin rope is wound very tightly about each bundle or "carotte." This process like the curing is repeated over and over again. One man can handle about 10 carottes in a day, the weight being about 4 lbs. each.

Perique is considered to have a finer aroma than any other pipe smoking tobacco and its presence in a mixture is at once detected by the experienced smoker. It is said to contain only 1/4 of the citric acid, 1/2 of the nitric acid and 6 times as much acetic acid as tobacco cured in air. The resultant aroma is rich and fragrant, and the taste is smooth, delicate and agreeable. It is also claimed that it stimulates the brain without in any way being hurtful to the digestive or nervous systems.

When the carottes are finally made it is usual to leave them under pressure for at least 12 months. The aroma is said to improve as the tobacco grows older.