2 BULLETIN 109, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



other elevated portions of the wrapper, but in some Cases the entire 

 surface was more or less involved. 



The wrapper leaf is usually prepared for use the day before it is 

 actually used in manufacture. It is first brought into the necessary 

 moist condition, or gotten into " case," by dipping into water. The 

 leaves are bound into small bundles in which the bases of the leaves 

 are tied together. These bundles, or " hands," are grasped by their 

 bases and carried down into and through the " casing " liquid with 

 a scooping motion, so performed as to drag the bundle of leaves with 

 the bases ahead, the blades of the leaves being pulled through the 

 liquid. After this quick dip, the bundles are shaken and set upright 

 on a draining board to permit the surplus liquid to drain away. 

 The pile, loosely packed together, is then covered with a moist cloth 

 'and allowed to stand until the droplets of water clinging to the sur- 

 face of the leaves have been absorbed. In a few hours the leaf be- 

 comes soft and pliable without giving the impression of being wet. 

 The ribs are then pulled out and the broad leaf blades are worked 

 up as their size, shape, and quality may determine. The freshly 

 made cigars are then sorted according to colors and boxed immedi- 

 ately, or sometimes held in bundles, to be packed later. 



In this condition each cigar is round, and the prescribed number 

 of cigars when placed in the box overfill it, so that the cover must be 

 brought into place by the use of pressure. Here the moist cigars 

 yield to each other and take on such flattened sides and angles as 

 may be required to get the box closed. Sometimes the lids of the 

 boxes are considerably bent by the pressure of the fresh cigars, and 

 the boxes are then placed for a day in large presses before they are 

 nailed up. In warm weather the mold sometimes appears while the 

 boxed cigars are in the presses ; that is, within 48 hours after they are 

 made, but more frequently within a week or two after making. 

 When warm, humid weather conditions prevail it is not rare for 

 molds to appear while the cigars are in transit or in storage. Since 

 heat and moisture are necessary conditions for mold development, 

 it follows that little trouble is experienced in the winter months but 

 much during the hot summer months. 



A number of attempts had been made by the factory managers 

 to remove this source of loss. Small quantities of vinegar in the 

 water (1 pint in 4 or 5 gallons) used for casing wrapper leaf were 

 found to aggravate the trouble. When the leaf was cased in vinegar 

 at full strength the molds were suppressed, but the luster of the 

 leaf was thought to be impaired. Casing in alcoholic solutions was 

 found to be helpful, but too expensive. Small quantities of glyc- 

 erin were found to be useless in suppressing molds, but helpful in 

 retaining moisture in the wrapper. 



