466 TOBACCO LEAF. 



edges. After the tobacco is cut, it is dried and made 

 ready for working, either by hand or by a machine. 

 The machine for making cigarettes (of which there are 

 about 25 different kinds), although simple to operate, is 

 a wonderful piece of mechanism, which takes the to- 

 bacco and converts it into perfect cigarettes at the rate 

 of 100,000 to 200,000 per day of 10 hours. 



Before the invention of this machine, cigarettes were 

 made almost entirely by girls, whose deft fingers enabled 

 them to do the work more rapidly and more neatly than 

 when done by men. The average number made by each 

 girl is about 2000 per day, sometimes 2500, by which it 

 appears that one machine, operated at a minimum capac- 

 ity, can do the work of about 50 girls in the manufacture 

 of cigarettes. A large number of girls, however, find 

 employment in packing and stamping the product 

 turned out by the machine. The packages are put up 

 in a highly artistic and attractive way, so as to catch the 

 eye of the consumer. 



There are some markets in which the handmade 

 cigarettes are preferred to those made by machinery, and 

 the supply for these markets are made by girls. The 

 all-tobacco cigarettes are made by hand, and the wrap- 

 pers and fillers used are of the finest selections of Vir- 

 ginia and Havana tobacco. The fillers are first pressed 

 in molds and then wrapped, just as cigars are made. 

 Virginia fillers are preferred by most manufacturers. 

 An expert maker of cigarettes can earn from $1.50 to $2 

 per day. All-tobacco cigarettes require the greatest 

 care in the selection of suitable tobacco. 



One of the leading manufacturers of cigarettes in 

 Eichmond, Va., Cameron & Cameron, blend together, 

 for making cigarettes, various kinds of tobacco, embrac- 

 ing the Virginia, North Carolina, Turkish, Perique, 

 Havana, Latakio and Brazilian. The manipulation of 

 so many kinds can be successfully accomplished only by 



