THE CULT J 'RE OF TOBACCO. 89 



warm, moist, ur .steam-charged looni. In some districts the use of 

 steam is objected to, on the ground that it may at times give to 

 tobacco an objectionable odour. In these places compi-essed air is made 

 to create a fine spray of watei- and thus moisten the air of the room 

 and serve the same purpose as the .steam. For the fillers, if deficient 

 in moisture, a dipping of the butts in a cask of water will lie sufficient 

 unle.ss they are lacking in gum, in which case it is a common practice 

 to dip the butts in a pi-eparation made by boiling a quantity of Havana 

 tijbacco stems, and mixing the resulting thick juice with sour wine at 

 the rate of three to one. After being dipped in this, the tobacco is 

 placed in cases oi' small piiles and covered up for a day, so that the 

 moisture may become evenly distiibuted. The new bulk is then made. 

 A fine mi.st of steam or spray of water may be added to the tobacco, 

 but the dii-ect addition of water may slightly injure the colour of the 

 leaf. 



When l<.>w grade fillers cease fermentation before the desiied 

 stage is reached they are treated with the following "petuning" 

 solution : — Two gallons rum ; one gallon sour wine ; one half-pint 

 tincture of valerian ; one ounce oil of aniseed : one half-gallon black 

 coffee ; one ounce pulverized cloves ; one ounce pulverized cinnamon ; 

 two pounds liquorice paste dissolved in water and sufficient water 

 added to make five gallons. After being allowed to stand foi' twenty- 

 four houi'S and tlioroughly mixed, the prejjaration is ready for use. 

 As the bulk of the tobacco is being made a fine spray of this is placed 

 on each layer. The moisture added aids somewhat in the process of 

 fermentation, but the main idea of this preparation is to add to the 

 tobacco an artificial aroma I'esembling that of Cuban tobacco. This 

 " petuning " is never done to high-grade tobacco. 



When a tobacco is slow in heating it is sometimes sprayed with a 

 solution of ammonia caibonate. The reason for this is that the 

 contents of the leaf give an acid reaction because of the accumulation 

 of free acids, and the ammonia carbonate combines with these acids 

 and gives a neutral condition favourable to the action of o.xidizing 

 enzymns, 



A temperature of 130° is probably as high as the tobacco should 

 ever be allowed to I'ise. Expert tobacco men will judge the condition 

 of a pile by the insertion fif their arm, but most persons should trust 

 nothing but an accurate ther'mometer. This may be read at any time 

 by keeping it in a perforated tin cylinder inserted into the centre of 

 the bulk. The United States Department of Agriculture has recently 

 devised an electrical thermometer which may be left in the centre of 

 the bulk, and the readings made with no disturbance of the 

 tobacco. The wir'es may be extended to a central office and the 

 readings of any number- of bulks in different buildings be observed 

 there. 



Upon the completion of the fermentation the tobacco is ready to 

 be graded and packed for- shipment. Tobacco is irr a propier- 

 condition for baling when a " hand " that has been squeezed may have 

 all of its leaves separated one from another by a shake. This indicates 

 that the leaves are without enough moisture to cause them to stick 

 one to another-. The finer grades of cigar leaf are gr-aded very 

 flosely and handled very carefully. The commoner grades of fillers 

 are placed in three-hundred pound cases. The best grades of Cuban 

 tobacco are made into " hands " of forty leaves each, and then four- 

 " hands " are bound together by means of Cuban bast into what is known 



6 



