color. Within the past few years many processors have 

 abandoned the use of large bulks. As a labor-saving 

 method they are sweating tobacco in cases and using a 

 plastic covering to speed up fermentation. 



J-he shade of difference 



Once bulk fermentation is completed the leaves come 

 under the critical examination of trained workers who 

 separate perfect, and only perfect, leaves into grades of 

 a dozen to twenty or more. Grading is controlled by 

 color, texture and quality. Leaves are then arranged by 

 sizes which run from 8)2 to 18 or more inches in length. 

 Packed in wooden cases, the sorted tobacco is stored for 

 six weeks for a final fermentation. 



The exacting procedures of preparing wrapper leaf 

 for market reach tlieir conclusion when leaves, in small 

 bundles called "hands," are laid in baling boxes. Each 

 leaf layer is protectively separated from others by soft 

 paper, and packed under pressure. The contents of a 

 bale weight about 30-50 pounds. The bales are covered 

 with grass mats woven in Borneo or with paper matting 

 of American make. 



A year or more earlier the wrapper leaf that had 

 passed through so many careful hands had its start in a 

 seed-bed. Thougli now ready for manufacturing into 

 cigars, not all of it goes into factory bins. Storage ware- 

 houses will hold a good part of the leaf until needed for 

 cigar-making machines or the hand rollers who make 

 the most expensive cigars. 



11 



