CLASSIFICATION AND MARKETS. 73 



lieved possible, so that in recent years, manufacturers 

 open each hand of wrapper tobacco and assort it to the 

 six colors. /These are called, 



Claro, very light brown. 



Colorado Claro, light brown. 



Colorado, brown. 



Colorado Maduro, dark brown. 



Maduro, dark. 



Oscuro, black. 



Of the latter, but little, if any, has been used for 

 years. 



The cigars are wrapped with the above shadings, 

 and each lot is kept by itself. As a leaf varies in 

 color at opposite ends, a second assortment, this time of 

 the cigars, is made. This is essential, as the tip of a 

 leaf may be of a Colorado color, while the stalk end may 

 be a Maduro. As finally placed in the box, the colors 

 are so arranged by shadings that only an expert will 

 notice any difference of shades in the same box among 

 the finer grades of cigars. 



Large manufacturers nearly always manipulate leaf, 

 more or less, after its purchase, for their particular 

 needs. They will take a crop and sweat it over again 

 during a season, and by regulating the heat and tem- 

 perature, the leaf will come out two or three shades 

 darker. This can be done by the experienced shop 

 foreman, nearly to a certainty, every time. On the 

 other hand, no process has, as yet, been devised for 

 changing a leaf to a lighter color ; to the man discov- 

 ering such a process awaits an immense fortune. 



As used in the cigar, binders may be a shade lighter 

 than the wrapper, but binders are never put through 

 the six-color assortment, as are wrappers. Binders 

 are assorted into grades of sweetness and strength. 



The filler has much the same assortment ; it is the 

 filler that makes the cigar ; that is, produces the taste, 



