CONNECTICUT SEED-LEAF AND HAVANA CIGARS. 309 



packed in chestnut instead of cedar boxes containing from 

 one to five hundred cigars each. A manufacturer of cigars 

 nearly fifty years ago gives the following account of his 

 method : " We selected for wrappers those leaves having 

 white specks (white rust) upon them, which greatly in- 

 creased the sale of the cigars, and which were considered by 

 emokers to be much better than those not wound with fancy 

 wrappers. After the cigars were packed in the boxes a little 

 Spanish bean was grated upon the cigars, or a single bean was 

 placed between the cigars in the box." At this time some 

 little taste was evinced for colors, and cigars of a " bright cin- 

 namon red," and afterwards, of a dark brown, were consid- 

 ered the finest, while leaf that was black was considered 

 worthless for wrappers. A kind of cigar which is distinctly 

 American and which is made to a considerable extent, is 

 called a seed cigar, and is made from tobacco grown in Con- 

 necticut, New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio. These cigars 

 have but little reputation, and are of inferior quality and 

 manufacture. A very good cigar, call a " sprig cigar," is 

 made from Havana and Connecticut seed-leaf filler wound 

 1 with a seed wrapper which gives a good flavor similar to 

 clear Havana. 



A full flavored cigar like a sip of rare old wine is inspir- 

 ing to a lover of the " royal plant " and amid the sublime 

 and companionable thoughts that its fragrance engenders, 

 one is led oftentimes to reflect on its rare virtues and the 

 benign effects it produces wherever known. Thus it light- 

 ens the toil of the weary laborer plodding along the highway 

 of life. The student poring over musty tomes sees with a 

 clearer perception as its fragrance accompanies him along 

 the pathway of science and of history. The poet " as those 

 wreathes up go " sees Helicon's fresh founts flowing clearer 

 and purer. The musician "lord of sounds," evokes tones 

 from his instrument never before heard by mortal ear. The 

 warrior, "fresh from glory's field" is charmed by its fra- 

 grance as he dreams of shattered battalions and sleeping 

 hosts. The farmer nurtured amid the odors of the " balmy 



