128 The Soverane Herbe 



From a strictly chronological point of view this 

 account of the manufacture of tobacco should have 

 commenced with cake tobacco. The herb smoked 

 by Elizabethan worthies was ' pudding,' ' roll,' and 

 ' twist.' These hard tobaccos are the forms in 

 which ' the weed of glorious feature ' was originally 

 prepared. They were compact and convenient for 

 carrying about, the smoker slicing off a pipeful as 

 required, and equally suitable for chewing and 

 smoking. The plug known as carotte in the seven- 

 teenth century was a roll, about lo inches long and 

 3 inches thick, sweetened with treacle. It was for 

 such a roll of Virginia that Sir Roger de Coverley 

 called at a tobacconist's on his way to Westminster 

 Abbey. 



For cake tobaccos strong and coarse leaves are 

 selected. The ultimate form of the tobacco permits 

 the use of short, broken leaves, though these are 

 not necessarily of inferior quality. But the leaf 

 ' drinks well,' and moisture to the full legal extent 

 of 30 per cent, is added. With a duty to pay of 

 3s. per pound, naturally every scrap of tobacco is 

 carefully hoarded. Until recently such of the mid- 

 ribs, removed from the leaf for shag, etc., as were not 

 ground into snuff were returned to the Customs, and 

 the duty which had been paid thereon was claimed 

 and received by the manufacturer. Now these refuse 

 midribs are crushed between the rollers of a machine 

 and the flattened stems are incorporated into cake 

 and nailrod. In passing it may be noted that even 

 the refuse and sweepings of tobacco factories are 

 collected and returned to the Customs for drawback. 



