264 QUALITIES OF HAVANA CIGARS. 



last, is the mark denoting the number of cigars in the box. 

 This is stenciled on the side in Arabic numerals. 



" A theory has obtained that cigars made in Havana, by 

 reason of some inexplicable climatic influence, are better 

 than those made in New York, even should they be made of 

 tobacco from the same plantation. This may be so, but it is 

 doubtful whether this was ever fairly tested, or, indeed, 

 whether it was ever tested at all. The truth is that all the 

 best tobacco grown in the island of Cuba is bought up by the 

 heavy manufacturers in Havana. The crops of the best 

 plantations are contracted for in advance, and the old-estab- 

 lished firms buy from the same vegos year after year. Hence 

 it is why their cigars are so uniform in quality. All Cuban 

 tobacco is not good, by any means. . The tobacco from the 

 Yuelta de Arriba is not so good as that from the Yuelta de 

 Abajo, and yet there is but little difference in their geo- 

 graphical position. And in the Yuelta de Abajo, a short 

 distance makes a difference in the quality of the tobacco. 

 Some vegos are celebrated for their good crops, while others, 

 perhaps not a hundred yards away, do not produce good 

 crops at all. There are many poor cigars made in Cuba, as 

 all who have ever been there know, and all over the island 

 the Havana cigar is deemed the best. In Havana, and, 

 indeed, in all parts of the island, green or freshly-made 

 cigars are preferred, and the most esteemed cigar-cases are 

 made of carefully prepared bladders, in which the cigars are 

 rolled to prevent the evaporation of the moisture. 



" When a Cuban gentleman gives a cigar to a friend, he 

 does not, as we do, open his case, and offer it to him to 

 choose from but he examines its contents carefully and 

 critically, selects the one he thinks the best and offers it. 

 And there is a great deal more in the choice of a cigar, by 

 selecting it on account of its outside appearance, than one 

 not accustomed to it would suppose. A wrapper which has 

 that which the Cubans call calidad makes the cigar much 

 stronger than one which does not possess it. That is to say, 

 that the wrapper which has calidad contains more essential 

 oil, is denoted by an abundance of small pustules on the sur- 

 face of the leaf, and by a general rich, oily appearance. As 

 a proof of the foregoing proposition, it is only necessary to 

 know how cigars are made. A lot of tobacco is worked up 

 into say 50,000. After they are all made, they are turned 

 over to be assorted, according to color and class, and are 

 packed and marked. The fillers are all alike, it is the 



