THE CUBA REVIEW 17 
and then placed on end for several hours to allow the water to soften all the leaves 
uniformly and to let the surplus drain off. The hands in this condition are then 
delivered to the strippers, who, with a deft motion, remove the mid-rib from about 
the lower two-thirds of the leaf, if filler, or from the entire leaf, if wrapper. Of 
course, in the case of cheaper grades of filler, rough work is frequently allowed, but 
in the case of wrapper the greatest care is essential, as not only must the entire 
mid-rib be removed, but also care must be taken not to injure the edges of the leaves 
in any way, as the wrappers come exclusively from the outer portions of the leaf. 
As the work progresses, the strippers place the stripped leaves in small piles upon 
narrow boards provided for the purpose. After the day’s work of the strippers is 
received by the foreman in charge, another narrow strip of board is placed above 
the piles, and the stripped material is then removed to another department, where 
it is allowed to partially dry. It is then removed from the boards, the leaves by 
this time having assumed a permanently flat condition, and placed on long racks 
composed of narrow strips separated by spaces about an inch wide, with from six 
to eight inches between the series or strips, these racks being in a department where 
ventilation can be controlled and where final drying is received. From here the 
leaves are placed in small barrels, usually pierced on all sides with openings to allow 
further ventilation, in which they are held till desired for shipping, if to be exported! 
in this form, or till needed by the cigar makers, if to be used in our local factories. 
It would seem that the simple work of taking out the mid-rib of tobacco leaves: 
would not permit of much variation, but actual practice in our various stripping” 
factories shows that selection of the one utilized can frequently be made with con- 
siderable profit. In some of the stripping establishments, where the work is done: 
for others at so much per hundred pounds, careful supervision of the workers has- 
resulted in considerable saving of leaf. It not infrequently happens’ that whereas in. 
some establishments the loss due to carelessness or hasty work is as much. as. thirty- 
five per cent. of the weight of the tobacco as taken from the bale; in others the same 
tobacco has been stripped with a loss not greater than twenty-six or twenty-eight 
per cent. In the same way the loss through the conversion of leaf into small pieces: 
called and sold as “scrap” is much greater in some establishments than in others- 
It has even occurred that dishonesty in the stripping factory has resulted in the 
replacement of a certain part of the tobacco originally delivered by a poorer and 
lower priced material, the part thus removed being utilized by those in charge of the 
factory for their own profit. The same practice sometimes obtains in those establish- 
ments of this nature that are operated for the account and profit of their owners. 
The ease with which a small percentage of low priced material can be worked in and 
the difficulty of detection until the material is finally employed in making up cause 
this practice to be more general than it otherwise would be. It thus behooves the 
purchaser who has his tobacco stripped for his own account to ascertain carefully 
the reputation of the firm by whom this operation is performed. 
The final step in preparing stripped tobacco intended for export consists in re- 
moving it from the small barrels in which it has been stored and placing it in large 
capacious barrels holding from 100 to 120 pounds, in which it is placed carefully 
layer on layer, the barrels usually being lined with oiled paper to prevent further 
drying out and ventilation of the contents... When sufficient tobacco has been placed 
in the parrels, the head is placed over the top, and by means of heavy presses: is 
forced into position, where it is held by a cross strip and hoop securely nailed to the 
staves of which the barrel is composed. In some instances the tobacco is shipped in 
packs composed of gunny sacking, though the objection is often made that this results 
in the breaking up of considerable leaf. Only the need of economy permits this 
method of shipment, a saving at the present time of about two dollars per pack being 
possible due to the high price now demanded for barrels. The proper marks are then 
placed on the barrel or bale, shipping papers are prepared, and the tobacco is then 
