No. 4.] THE TOBACCO TRADE. 159 



notice ; to ask what we can do to meet this changed con- 

 dition, or wliether Ave must become a binder rather than a 

 wrap})er-growing district. 



The cigar is not any more a hixury of the rich or the well- 

 to-do. The consumption in this country of over 7,000,- 

 000,000 cigars a year is increasing at the rate of 175,000,000 

 annually ; therefore, the great struggle is to make them as 

 cheaply as possible. The production of good grades of Ha- 

 vana filler has not at all kept pace with the increased cigar 

 manufacture ; and, as all of us who smoke know to our cost, 

 the quality of cigars has greatly deteriorated. 



The manufacturer, in fierce competition with his business 

 rivals, requires a wrapper leaf which shall have these 

 qualities : — 



1. It must he so well sorted that all the leaves in a case 

 or bale are alike in all respects. Colors must be uniform, so 

 that the work of grading when the cigars are boxed will \)Q 

 very light. Size and sJiape of leaf must be perfectly uniform 

 so that the manufacturer may see at a glance from his sam- 

 ple just how many wrappers he can cut from the package, 

 and, Avhat is equally important, so that he may avoid the 

 expense of a soiling and rehandling at the factory. 



2. The leaf must be "profitable," i.e., it must cut with 

 little waste ; otherwise, besides making cigars, he becomes 

 also a dealer in binders or in considerable quantities of cut- 

 tings, which is aside from his main work, 



3. He must be able to buy an amount of Avrapper leaf 

 sufficient for his needs for the year, of one size, shape, sound- 

 ness and general quality ; otherwise, the lirands which he 

 makes will not be uniform, but will one month be one thing 

 and the next month something a little different, all of which 

 works against stability of trade. 



4. The wrapper must have "style," smooth finish and 

 small vein, to please the eye of the smoker. 



Besides all these things, of course, the leaf must burn 

 fairly, and it must have no pronounced evil taste. 



Mind you, I have not stated the characters which go to 

 make up a cigar which, in the opinion of a smoker of good 

 taste, is a good one ; I am discussing only present trade con- 



