THE PREPARATION OF FARM PRODUCTS. 2Q5 



characterizing the tobacco fermentation. Whether these bod- 

 ies are really enzymes, as Loew claims, is doubted by some. 

 But this matter is immaterial for our purpose. They are cer- 

 tainly chemical bodies of some kind, and are produced by the 

 tobacco leaves and not by bacteria. The most striking phe- 

 nomenon of tobacco fermentation is therefore not due to the 

 action of bacteria. 



But while these facts show that enzymes, or similar bodies, 

 play the chief role in the fermentation, they do not by an means 

 exclude the action of bacteria. We have already noticed that 

 in the ripening of cheese, while the enzymes are extremely im- 

 portant agents in the chemical changes going on, the bacteria 

 are of chief importance in the production of the flavors. The 

 fermentation of the tobacco by the oxydases does not satisfac- 

 torily explain the flavors. When Havana tobacco is fermented 

 in the United States it ferments normally but does not develop 

 the typical Cuban flavor. It is quite possible that this flavor is, 

 after all, a matter of bacterial action. When the Cuban planter 

 ferments his tobacco he commonly sprinkles it with special 

 preparations, a process called "petuning." These prepara- 

 tions are usually secrets, and each plantation is likely to have 

 its own. They consist of mixtures of various chemicals, of 

 which organic fluids yielding ammonium carbonate frequently 

 form a part. The action of this petuning is problematical, but 

 it is believed by the planters to contribute to the production of 

 the peculiar flavors of Cuban tobacco. 



Now these mixtures are good culture media for bacteria, 

 and when they are sprinkled upon the tobacco the leaves are, 

 in a way, inoculated with bacteria. In other cases the stems 

 are treated with a mixture of water and molasses which also 

 stimulates bacterial growth. On such pctuncd leaves bacteria 

 are abundant, and this accounts for the somewhat large num- 

 ber of species which German investigators have found upon 

 Havana tobacco, and which they have isolated in their at- 



