90 CIRCULAR 249, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
dealers, the large manufacturers of today in order to maintain uni- 
formity of product and insure adequate supplies of raw material, have 
their own leaf departments, and purchase and store large quantities of 
domestic and imported tobacco. They develop brands that are 
advertised and distributed on a national scale. This development has 
tended toward the elimination of small dealers and packers, especially 
as to the domestic types. There are, however, many manufacturers 
a sate to small output who still rely on the services of intermediary 
ealers. 
In connection with the manufacture of cheap cigars, those selling 
at less than 5 cents each, and made largely with short or scrap filler 
as distinguished from the conventional long filler, there has developed 
an industry devoted exclusively to the production of scrap filler in 
large quantities. In these plants tobacco not so well suited for long- 
filler purposes is ‘‘ground”’ or broken into scrap. Relatively low-grade 
tobacco of many types is used, including some not used in the long- 
filler business. The product is sold to the cigar manufacturers. 
A high degree of diversification exists in the cigar industry as to 
types and grades of tobacco used. With respect to the better grades 
of cigars, especially, the manufacturer is discriminating not only as 
to the blends adopted for the filler, but as to the binders and wrappers 
used. It is commonly recognized in the trade that certain types of 
wrapper tobacco, for example, will not blend well with certain types 
of filler; and similar claims are made as to binders. A good cigar, 
therefore, represents a studied matching of types and grades of tobacco 
as to aroma, burning characteristics, etc. The process of selection 
extends beyond a consideration of the qualitative factors and into the 
economic phases of price, availability and adequacy of supply, and 
‘“‘vield.”’ By yield is meant the number of binders that may be 
obtained from a pound of binder tobacco, or wrappers from a pound 
of wrapper tobacco. The thinnest wrapper tobacco, and therefore 
yielding the highest number of wrappers per pound, is the Sumatra 
type from Netherlands Indies. But the use of this tobacco brings 
tariff rates into the equation. The most satisfying aroma may or 
may not be associated with high yield. In the struggle for supremacy, 
it will be seen, therefore, the manufacturer is confronted with many 
problems concerned not only with the choice and proper blending of 
tobaccos but with prices and duty rates as well as those of factory 
management and salesmanship. 
Cigars are classified in various ways. For purposes of taxation 
they are divided into two groups, those weighing more than 3 pounds 
per thousand, called large cigars, and those weighing not more than 
3 pounds per thousand, called small cigars. Large cigars constitute 
roughly 95 percent of the total number, and of the total tobacco used 
in the manufacture of cigars from 98 to 99 percent goes into large 
cigars. 
Large cigars are further classified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue 
according to their intended retail price, as follows: 
Class A, not more than 5 cents. 
Class B, more than 5 cents, but not more than 8 cents. 
Class C, more than 8 cents, but not more than 15 cents. 
Class D, more than 15 cents, but not more than 20 cents. 
Class E, more than 20 cents. 
