52 BULLETIN 737, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



standpoint gave negative results it has been found that the process 

 may be employed in connection with the fumigation of infested 

 tobacco (fig. 15). 



SEALED CONTAINERS FOR MANUFACTURED TOBACCO. 



Investigations of factory conditions show that during the process 

 of manufacture tobacco is, in many cases, thoroughly sterilized by 

 heat. In one factory, in which experiments with different stages of 

 the beetle were conducted, the tobacco was subjected to a temperature 

 of 180° F. as it passed through the driers. This degree of heat has 

 been found to destroy all stages of the beetle quickly, and is suffi- 

 ciently high to sterilize tobacco thoroughly under any ordinary con- 

 ditions. Tobacco may become infested before it leaves the factory, 

 but it is evident from the usual condition of the tobacco which is 

 returned with complaints of infestation, and from the time required 

 for development of the beetle, that much of this tobacco becomes 

 infested after it leaves the factory. 



It is not unusual to find badly infested material in wholesale and 

 retail establishments in the same room used for storing fresh stock. 

 The grubs or larvae of the tobacco beetle are very minute when 

 hatched, and at this stage are most active and readily find their way 

 through small openings in the boxes or containers. In containers 

 sealed perfectly tight at the factory it is very unusual to find the 

 tobacco injured. 



In order to determine whether or not newly hatched larvae could 

 find their way into uninfested boxes used by different firms for pack- 

 ing smoking tobacco, experiments were made at Richmond, Va., and 

 at Tampa, Fla. The boxes of tobacco were thoroughly sterilized 

 by heat and then put in sealed jars in which eggs of the tobacco 

 beetle were placed at frequent intervals. The boxes were sufficiently 

 tight to exclude partly grown larvae and the adult beetles, but all 

 showed openings along the edge of the cover and at the hinge of the 

 lid large enough to admit newly hatched larvae. In the experiments 

 16 boxes were used and of these 12 boxes became infested after a 

 time whereas none of the control boxes showed the least sign of 

 infestation. In other experiments it was found that some of the 

 larvae hatching from eggs placed in empty boxes of the same kind 

 escaped through even the smallest openings along the edges of the 

 cover or at the hinges of the boxes. 



CAKING CIGAB TOBACCO IN A DECOCTION OF TOBACCO STEMS. 



Soaking tobacco stems in water from 12 to 24 hours gives a solu- 

 tioh which is said to hasten fermentation of leaf tobacco. Several 

 cigar manufacturers, both in this country and in Cuba, have re- 



