264 QUALITIES OF HAVANA CIGARS. 
last, is the mark denoting the number of cigars in the box. 
This is stenciled on the side in Arabic numerals. 
“A theory has obtained that’ cigars made in Havana, by 
reason of some inexplicable climatic influence, are better 
than those made in New York, even should they be made of 
tobacco from the same plantation. This may be so, but it is 
doubtful whether this was ever fairly tested, or, indeed, 
whether it was ever tested at all. The truth is that all the 
best tobacco grown in the island of Cuba is bought up by the 
heavy manufacturers in Havana. The crops of the best 
lantations are contracted for in advance, and the old-estab- 
Hehed firms buy from the same vegos year after year. Hence 
it is why their cigars are so uniform in quality. All Ouban 
tobacco is not good, by any means. The tobacco from the 
Vuelta de Arriba is not so good as that from the Vuelta de 
Abajo, and yet there is but little difference in their geo- 
graphical position. And in the Vuelta dé Abajo, a short 
distance makes a difference in the quality of the tobacco. 
Some vegos are celebrated for their good crops, while others, 
perhaps not a hundred yards away, do not produce good 
crops at all. There are many poor cigars made in Cuba, as 
all who have ever been there know, and all over the island 
the Havana cigar is deemed the best. In Havana, and, 
indeed, in all parts of the island, green or freshly-made 
cigars are preferred, and the most esteemed cigar-cases are 
made of carefully prepared bladders, in which the cigars are 
rolled to prevent the evaporation of the moisture. 
“When a Ouban gentleman gives a cigar to a friend, he 
does not, as we do, open his case, and offer it to him to 
choose from but he examines its contents carefully and 
critically, selects the one he thinks the best and offers it. 
And there is a great deal more in the choice of a cigar, by 
selecting it on account-of its outside appearance, than one 
not accustomed to it would suppose. A wrapper which has 
that which the Cubans call calidad makes the cigar much 
stronger than one which does not possess it. That is to say, 
that the wrapper which has calidad contains more essential 
oil, is denoted by an abundance of small pustules on the sur- 
face of the leaf, and by a general rich, oily appearance. As 
a proof of the foregoing proposition, it is only necessary to 
know how cigars are made. A lot of tobacco is worked up 
into say 50,000. After they are all made, they are turned 
over to be assorted, according to color and.class, and are 
packed and marked. The fillers are all alike, it is the 
