SORTING OF LEAVES. yal 
consideration in the factories, some of them receiving large 
pay; thus for instance, the official escqjedor, or chooser, gets 
from five to seven dollars (gold) per day, and the ¢orcedores, or 
twisters, from two to four, the workmen being paid so much 
per thousand cigars, generally from two to four dollars. To 
show how very careful the maker must be in cutting out the 
leaf to make the most of it: Mr. del Valle was explaining 
to me the process of manufacture, and directed the maker 
to cut the leaf. This the man did drawing his knife in the 
manner denoted by the dotted lines in the engraving. This 
it appears was not making the most 
? of the fine part of the leaf, for Mr. 
del Valle, annoyed, took the knife 
himself, and after rating the maker 
soundly for his carelessness, showed 
him how to cut it properly, as defined 
by the black line, the difference 
being, as far as I could judge, a slight 
TOBACCO LEAF. inequality of color between the two 
parts. The manufacture of the cigar. 
is very simple. The cigar maker, being seated before a low. 
work table, which has raised ledges on every side except that 
nearest him, takes a leaf of tobacco, spreads it out smoothly 
before him, and cuts it as in the drawing. He then laysa 
few fragments of tobacco (tripa) in the centre or a leaf strip 
and rolls the whole into the shape of a cigar, and taking 
then a wrapper, rolls it spirally around the cigar. If the 
workman is skillful, he makes it of just the right length and 
size, without any trimming of ‘the knife. The cigars are 
assorted, counted, and done up in bundles of generally 
twenty-five each, and then packed in the boxes, ready for 
market, under their different names of Londres, Regalias, 
etc. These names are generally understood to have the 
same meaning throughout the trade, the ‘ Vegueros, for 
instance, being the plantation cigars, made at the regas, and 
much esteemed by smokers, though they are rarely to be. 
met with for sale, or, if so, at an exhorbitant price. The 
‘ Regalia Imperial, the finest and best, is nearly seven 
inches long, the price varying from one hundred and fifty 
to three hundred dollars per thousand (gold). The ‘ Regalia’ 
is not so large but fine, the ‘ Zrabuco, short and thick; the 
“Londres” the most convenient in shape, and most smoked 
in this country and England; the ‘ Dama’ the small sized one 
used by ladies(?) or by men between acts of the opera (entr’, 
