TOBACCO LEAVES 



atmosphere, and regain their softness and 

 elasticity. 



In assorting the tobacco, the leaves are 

 divided into piles graded according to 

 their commercial value. These piles are 

 made up of first and second grade wrap- 

 pers and fillers. The tobacco is then tied 

 up into " hands." Four of these hands 

 bunched together constitute a " carot," 

 which is shaped like a fat bottle. It is 

 held together by narrow strips of cactus 

 fibre, vulgarly known as " majagua." A 

 bark of a certain part of the palm-tree, 

 which is of very tough fibre, is used as the 

 first covering of a bale of tobacco, which 

 contains eighty carets bulked down, and 

 varies in weight from 80 to 125 pounds. 



The tobacco is then ready for shipment. 

 From the farms it is carried on the backs 

 of mules to the nearest seaport or railway 

 station, from which it finally reaches the 

 city of Havana. Over long and often dan- 



19 



