4 



CIRCULAR 435, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



spoken of as ' 'force sweating." The fermentation process is an 

 important part of the preparation of cigar-leaf tobacco for manu- 

 facture. 



Another distinction is that in most of the southern hogshead to- 

 baccos the heaviest losses in weight occur in the initial conditioning, 

 handling, and packing, whereas in most of the cigar-leaf tobaccos the 

 heaviest losses occur after packing, during the storage and fermenta- 

 tion periods. In some types of cigar-leaf tobacco, bulk-sweating 

 prior to packing is practiced by all dealers and packers, and in other 

 types by only a limited number. 



Figure 2. — Exterior view of modern storage warehouse. 

 REPORTS ON STOCKS OF LEAF TOBACCO 



An act of Congress approved April 30, 1912, directed the Bureau 

 of the Census to collect and publish statistics of leaf tobacco in the 

 United States held by certain classes of manufacturers and dealers 

 in leaf tobacco. The original act, providing for reports as of April 1 

 and October 1 of each year, was amended by an act of Congress 

 approved May 10, 1916, requiring reports also as of January 1 and 

 July 1 of each year. 



The Bureau of the Census therefore collected statistics of leaf 

 tobacco held at the beginning of each quarter from dealers in leaf 

 tobacco and from manufacturers who, according to the returns of the 

 Commissioner of Internal Revenue, manufactured during the preced- 

 ing calendar year more than 50,000 pounds of tobacco or snuff, 250,000 

 cigars, or 1,000,000 cigarettes. Stocks of leaf tobacco held by tobacco 

 growers' cooperative associations were also included. The tables on 

 stocks of leaf tobacco in this circular were compiled from reports of 

 the Bureau of the Census up to and including January 1, 1929. 



An act of Congress approved January 14, 1929, transferred the 

 collection and publication of statistics on leaf tobacco to the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. This law was amended by acts 

 of Congress approved July 14, 1932, and August 27, 1935. The 

 general provisions of these laws are substantially the same as the 

 original act and amendment, except that reports are required in more 

 detail. The statistics are collected and compiled on the basis of the 

 type classification established and promulgated by the Secretary of 



