ROUND TIP TOBACCO— 



A PLANT "MADE TO ORDER" 



From Specifications Drawn by Manufacturers and Consumers of Cigars, and the 

 Growers of Tobacco, a New Plant is Grown to Satisfy the Demands of Commerce. 



E. M. East, 

 Bussey Institution, Harvard University, and 



D. F. Jones, 

 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station 



ANEW type of cigar wrapper to- 

 bacco known to the trade as Round 

 Tip, has given such evidence of 

 commercial success that its origin may 

 be of some interest, particularly as it is 

 one of the few instances where a plant 

 was actually made to order with the 

 specifications drawn beforehand. 



The manufacturer of cigars, knowing 

 the demands of the consumer, calls for 

 numerous qualities in the leaf he uses 

 to enclose his wares. Primarily of 

 course, it must burn rather freely — 

 but not too freely — and must leave a 

 gray-white ash which does not flake 

 off at each puff of the ultimate con- 

 sumer. The flavor must be of that 

 peculiar character acceptable to the 

 connoisseur, which may be described 

 as neither earthy nor bitter but some- 

 where in between. Possession of the 

 delicate aroma so dear to the heart of 

 the confirmed smokers is not essential. 

 The aroma of a cigar is furnished by the 

 leaf used as filler; but the wrapper 

 must have an agreeable aroma or none, 

 since the most delicately perfumed 

 filler ever produced may be utterly 

 ruined by a nauseous wrapper. It must 

 have a velvety texture, and a uniform 

 color — not too dark nor yet too light. 

 It must be greenish-brown rather than 

 reddish -brown, and above all must 

 not be coarse veined or show white 

 markings around the veins. 



THE manufacturer's SPECIFICATIONS 



So much for the demands of the 

 consumer. Comes now the manufac- 

 turer, pressing his needs. Cigar wrap- 

 pers cost money, and he must have a 

 thin leaf covering as many cigars as 

 possible per pound of material. The 

 leaf should be broadly rounded at the 

 tip, since the wrapper of finest quality 



comes from this portion of the blade. 

 Again, the cigar wrapper must be 

 strong and full of elasticity. It shaves 

 down the profit to have a significant 

 percentage of torn leaves come from 

 the wrapping bench. If the purchaser 

 breaks the wrapper in his pocket, all 

 very well, provided he doesn't do it 

 often enough to prevent his coming 

 back for more; but broken leaves in the 

 factory break the heart of the manu- 

 facturer. 



THE grower's DEMANDS 



Finally, enter the farmer. His de- 

 mands are always last to be considered, 

 since the common practice in our 

 national drama is to cast the farmer in 

 the role of 'goat" instead of giving him 

 the star part he deserves. The grower 

 demands a plant of quick maturity, a 

 plant with many leaves, a plant with 

 no lateral branches. His ideal is a 

 strong plant standing up under wind 

 and rain, a plant resistant to disease, 

 one which will fill his barns to over- 

 flowing and cut down the unit growing 

 cost. 



In the narrow basin of the Connec- 

 ticut river, on the land between Hol- 

 yoke, Massachusetts, and Glastonbury, 

 Connecticut, they grow the finest 

 cigar wrappers in the United States. 

 And this is really quite an odd fact. 

 The two regions most famous for cigar 

 wrappers are Sumatra and Cuba. The 

 first is astride the Equator; the second 

 is just south of the Tropic of Cancer. 

 Then away up at forty-two degrees 

 north latitude s this spot bidding fair 

 to rival them, a p ace where so 1 and 

 climate again combine to make matters 

 right for the sovere gn weed. Here 

 some 35,000 acres are grown which 

 bring the p anters higher returns than 



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