BULLETIN OF THE 



UWMtHIOfAffldTIl 



No. 109 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Win. A. Taylor, Chief 

 June 11, 1914. 



THE MOLDS OF CIGARS AND THEIR PREVENTION. 



By R. H. True, 

 Physiologist in Charge of Plant Physiological and Fermentation Investigations. - 



INTRODUCTION. 



In 1901 a number of complaints were received from eastern cigar 

 manufacturers to the effect that considerable losses were being sus- 

 tained through the appearance of moldy growths on the finished! 

 products. These growths in some cases appeared within about three 

 days after the manufacture and the boxing of the cigars, thus fre- 

 quently being noticed before they left the factory. In some instances, 

 however, they did not appear until after considerable periods of 

 time. If the mold was detected before the cigars left the factory, the 

 only recourse was to wipe off the growth by hand, a rather expensive 

 process. Perhaps equally objectionable results followed when the 

 mold was not discovered until the cigars were in the hands of the 

 buyers. In either case very considerable loss was likely to result. 



The writer was asked to study the problem and, if practicable, to 

 work out feasible means by which the trouble could be remedied. 

 Several factories in which this trouble appeared were visited, mana- 

 gers were consulted, and materials for further work were obtained. 



FACTORY CONDITIONS. 



In order to get light on the conditions to be dealt with, the proc- 

 esses involved in making the brands of cigars most liable to mold 

 were observed in the factories. In the case of one factory more diffi- 

 culty was experienced with Sumatra wrappers than with other sorts, 

 and the trouble was believed to be worse in rainy seasons than at 

 other times. The mold usually appeared most abundantly on the 

 " head," or closed end of the cigar, less frequently on the veins or 



Note. — This paper discusses the losses due to the development of molds on cigars, out- 

 lines the studies directed toward the prevention of them, and presents practical directions 

 for the use of an effective remedy. The molds were found to be introduced principally 

 through the gum-tragacanth paste used to fasten the small flap at the head of the cigar. 

 The sterilization of the paste by using a nearly saturated solution of boric acid instead 

 of water in mixing it has proved so successful that it has become a routine process in the 

 factory in cooperation with which the investigations were conducted. 

 43386° — Bull. 109—14 



