376 TOBACCO LEAF. 



cloth. Over this layer of leaves a second cloth is placed 

 and the tobacco tramped. The layer of tobacco then is 

 doubled over at each end about three inches and 

 tramped again. The entire mass cloth, wrappers and 

 fillers is then rolled into a cylinder fifteen inches long 

 and three inches in diameter, a hole being kept through 

 the center, making a tube, into which the ends of the 

 wrapper leaves are tucked. The ends of the cloth are 

 then tied with strings, and a rope, one-third of an inch 

 in diameter, is wound tightly into a coil around the roll 

 from end to end, by the use of a windlass made for the 

 purpose. The rope is removed from the roll at the end 

 of 24 hours, and then rewound more tightly. The 

 carotte is then ready for market. A day's work for a 

 man, assisted by a boy, is 10 carottes a day. 



These carottes are usually put up during the winter 

 months, and this work employs every member of the 

 household in taking the twists from the presses and 

 opening them, straightening and weighing the tobacco, 

 before putting it into carottes. The tobacco often 

 remains under pressure for twelve months, and it is said 

 to grow sweeter and better with time. As there is a 

 demand for it, the tobacco is put into carottes. The 

 carottes form a species of currency with the local mer- 

 chants, and they are always taken in exchange for goods, 

 or received in payment of debts. 



Though the production is small, it has established 

 a character throughout two continents for its rare qual- 

 ities. It is unlike any other tobacco grown, in taste and 

 flavor, and those who use it claim that it has more aroma 

 than any other type ; that it is free from the acrid, 

 biting, creosotic taste so common in other Southern- 

 grown tobaccos ; that it has a rich, fragrant odor, with 

 a smooth, delicate and agreeable taste, and that it stim- 

 ulates the action of the brain without impairing the 

 organs of digestion, or affecting the nervous system. 



