The Manufacture of Tobacco 129 



The sweepings are analysed for dust and extraneous 

 matter, and the duty of 3s. per pound refunded on 

 the wasted tobacco. 



' Pigtail,' ' thick twist,' ' Irish roll,' etc., are pre- 

 pared in one way, differing only in the thickness of 

 the spin. The leaves, having been well damped — 

 cake tobacco absorbs three times as much water as 

 some flakes — are placed on the table at the end of 

 the spinning-machine. Under the nimble fingers of 

 the girl attendant the long, damp leaves are shaped 

 into a continuous rope, which, passing under wooden 

 rollers and their smoothing, tightening touch, is 

 wound on a huge spindle, revolving obversely, so 

 as to twist the tobacco-rope. Very curious is this 

 evolution of the leaf into a long, smooth cable. 



From this spindle the rope is spun into serpentine 

 coils, forming circular cakes. In this spinning the 

 girl oils the tobacco-rope with her fingers. The 

 Customs now limit the oil in cake tobacco to 4 per 

 cent. In former days 20 per cent, was allowed, and 

 inserted. It is told how Northern manufacturers 

 used to sell cake tobacco at less than the price of 

 leaf, so free was their lubrication. 



The cakes of coiled tobacco are covered with tarred 

 rope and heavily pressed in batches. For a day or 

 two the cakes are subject to hydraulic pressure 

 varying from 50 tons to 100 tons. They are then 

 ' cooked ' in a steam-stove, and pressed at the same 

 time for six hours, and left for a day or two to cool. 

 The brown rope, as which the ' twist ' started, is now 

 a serpentine-coiled cake, the jet-black colour being 

 due to the oil, the steam and pressure, and the 



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