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The World's Commercial Products 



MAKING CIGARETTES BY HAND 



which has become oxidised. It is no doubt due to the pressure and absorption of these oxidised 

 juices that we have developed the unique flavour and aroma of Perique tobacco. 



Manufacture 



The fully-aged tobacco reaches the hands of the manufacturer to be converted into the 

 many varieties, brands and mixtures which are familiar to everyone. Most of the leaf reaching 

 this country is " stripped," i.e., deprived of the stalk and mid-rib, but if intended for the 

 manufacture of " bird's eye," the mid-rib is retained, the " eyes " of the tobacco being 

 merely thin slices of the stalk. 



The manufacture of ordinary smoking mixtures is comparatively simple. The leaves are 

 mixed according to the formulas of the firm, and afterwards damped. They are then transferred 

 to the machine, where they are pressed into a light cake, which is finely cut up by what is 

 essentially a chaff cutter. In the damping stage it is a common practice to flavour the leaf 

 with various substances, sugar, liquorice, and certain aromatic substances being employed ; 

 further, chemicals, notably saltpetre, are also added to improve the burning qualities of the 

 tobacco. The shredded tobacco is then dried or " roasted " on heated slabs or in special 

 machinery, when it is ready for packing. " Roll " or "twist " is made by spinning the leaves by 

 machinery in a manner very similar to that adopted in rope-making. The core of the twist 

 is composed of broken leaf, but the covers are obtained from complete leaf. The material is 

 fed into the machine which converts it into a cord of uniform thickness. "Cake" tobacco, as 

 its name would indicate, is prepared by subjecting a " filling " between covering leaves to 

 considerable pressure, the filling being packed into moulds. 



Cigars are composed of two parts, a core formed of pieces of leaf placed longitudinally 

 and known as " fillers," and a covering formed of perfect leaf called the " wrapper." The 

 manufacture was formerly carried out almost entirely by hand, but now special machines 

 are used in nearly all cases. Until within the last few years the wrapper was largely composed 

 of Connecticut leaf, but its use was found to be wasteful. At the present time it may be said 



