Thereafter, through central warehouses, there was a de- 

 gree of order in leaf transportation which improved in a 

 short time. As other packing houses were erected, farm- 

 ers began to bring wagon loads of tobacco to them and 

 sell loose leaf to the warehousemen. This conversion of 

 leaf depots to buying houses remained in effect until just 

 before the mid- 19th century, when farm sales at barns 

 became the general practice. 



T 



he "sweated" leaf 



Sometime in the early 1830's a shipment of leaf went 

 off from Warehouse Point to a regular importer in Ger- 

 many. In an effort to pack more with less labor, the 

 tobacco was tightly compressed in oversize bundles. This 

 instance of thrift had an unexpected reward. The leaf 

 while on its long voyage underwent a natural fermenta- 

 tion, a process still something of a mystery to farmers 

 and agriculturists. 



An observant German at the receiving end, curious 

 about the unusually pleasant aroma and the improved 

 quality of Connecticut leaf, traced the effect to the 

 "sweating" induced by tight packing. In order to bring 

 about fermentation in transit or storage, thereafter it 

 became standard practice to pack leaf closely. Open 

 bales and such-like bundles gave way to cases holding 

 300 to 400 pounds of leaf. With this practical step the 

 "era of specialization" in Connecticut's cigar-leaf indus- 

 try began. The discovery that proper fennentation was 

 essential for the mellowing of cured tobacco came just 

 in time. 



32 



