The Manufacture of Tobacco 125 



This damping and cutting process, with minor 

 variations, is common to all loose or cut tobaccos. 

 Shag, the oldest of cut tobaccos, is prepared from 

 strong leaf, very finely cut into strips of one-fiftieth 

 of an inch, and steamed and kneaded. ' Returns ' is 

 made in the same way from light-coloured and mild 

 tobacco. It is so called from being originally pre- 

 pared by ' returning ' shag for re-cutting. 



Bird's-eye is similarly prepared, but for its manu- 

 facture the leaf is not stripped of its mid-rib. The 

 leaves are cut up intact with the central stalk, and it 

 is the sections of these, supposed to resemble birds' 

 eyes, that give it the name. All fine honeydew 

 and ' cuts ' are thus shaved into flakes, to be kneaded 

 and steamed and pulled into the familiar hair-like 

 mass. 



In the same way, also, the increasingly popular 

 ' smoking mixtures ' are now prepared. Though 

 every brand of tobacco is more or less an amalgam 

 of varied leaves, avowed mixtures of dark and light 

 tobaccos are of quite recent invention. Like so many 

 discoveries, the mingling of strong and dark, light 

 and mild, tobaccos was the work of necessity. 

 Twenty or thirty years ago a Huddersfield gentleman 

 was travelling home . from London. After leaving 

 King's Cross he discovered that his store of pipe- 

 tobacco was nearly exhausted and would not suffice 

 for the journey. He found, however, that he had a 

 cake of tobacco which he occasionally chewed. To 

 eke out ammunition for his pipe during the journey 

 he cut up the cake and mixed it with his flake 

 tob acco. The mixture was greatly to his liking ; 



