Machines That 

 Smoke Cigars 



The Modern Way 

 of Samplini? 

 Tobacco Leaf 



m 



THERE arc tea-tasters, perfume- 

 smellcrs and silk-feelers, but when 

 it comes to smoking cigars to deter- 

 mine their uniform burning, their ash 

 color, and the aroma of the smoke the 

 human element is entirely dispensed with 

 and machines — cigar-smoking machines 

 that can smoke four cigars at once and 

 never smoke themselves to death — are 

 used. These are of two kinds. The cigar 

 buyers use asiniple blower outfit, and the 

 Bureau of I'l.int Industry of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture tests its tobacco leaf 

 with an aspirator and siphon apparatus. 



When the buyers come to New York 

 for their season's supply of tobacco they 

 take the blower machine with them, and 

 after selecting certain (|ualities of tobacco 

 have cigars made u|) on tiic spot, c(5nncct 

 the blower to an ordinary lamp socket, 

 insert the cigars and watch results. 

 The way the cigar burns, the color 

 of its ash and the aroma of the smoke 

 are indications as to the quality and 

 desirability of that certain brand. 



The Bureau of I'lant Industry has an 

 interest in tobacco entirely different 

 from the cigar buyer. It is endeaxoring 

 to improve tobacco by a scientific stiidv 

 of till' difierenl brands. To eliminate the 

 personal eiiuation in smoking and to 



Above, the aspirator and siphon ap- 

 paratus for testing tobacco leaf. It 

 smokes four cigars in thirty minutes. 

 At left, the blower outfit which is 

 operated by electricity. The smoke 

 is coming from the exhaust outlet 



secure tmiformity of conditions the 

 Bureau has a uniciue apparatus for test- 

 ing the burning quality of cigars. The 

 "pLill" on the cigar is secured by means 

 of an aspirator which is filled by a con- 

 tinuous inflow of water and emptied 

 at regular intervals by a siphon. The 

 "pull" occurs at intervals of thirty 

 seconds and continues for a period of ten 

 seconds. The apparatus smokes four 

 cigars of the perfecto t\pe in about 

 thirty minutes. 



There are several elements which go 

 to make up a good or bad burn, chief 

 of which arc the capacity for holding fire, 

 the evenness of the burn, the color of 

 the ash and its firmness, the coaling or 

 carbonization, and the "puckering" of 

 the leaf iminetliately in advance of the 

 burning zone of the cigar. The final test 

 of an\' cigar tobacco must, of course, 

 rest ill tile smoking of the manufactured 

 cigar, but, while this gives a direct 

 means of determining the character of 

 the ash, it does not furnish accurate 

 information as to the evenness of the 

 burn or the fire-holding capacit\' of any 

 one ol the components used in the ex- 

 jjeriment. Tests have been made using 

 different fillers and binders with the 

 same wrappers. 



196 



