ROLL TOBACCO. 



311 



steeped in new rum or sugar, to give richness to the 

 flavour of the leaf, and were in much favour with 

 sailors for chewing. 



The process of forming roll tobacco is exhibited in 

 our cut on p. 129. Tobacco is thus made up into rolls, 

 as well by the inhabitants of the interior parts of 

 America as ourselves, by means of a machine called a 

 tobacco -wheel. With this machine they spin the leaves 

 after they are cured, into a twist of any size they 

 think fit, and having folded it into rolls of about twenty 

 pounds each, it is put into a press for some days, and 

 then laid by for use. In this state it will keep for 

 several years, and be continually improving, as it 

 always grows milder. Smaller rolls of this tobacco 

 called " negro head," weighing six or eight pounds 

 each, are also manufactured for the market ; and a still 

 smaller package of thinner twist, termed " pig-tail," is 

 frequently imported. 



Kanaster is a favourite tobacco in Holland. It takes 

 its name from the rush baskets in which it was 

 originally packed ; it then consisted of selected leaves 

 from the finest plants, in accordance with old Indian 

 custom (see p. 23); it is now a coarsely cut tobacco of 



