2 BULLETIN 109, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
other elevated portions of the wrapper, but in some cases the entire 
surface was more or less involved. 
The wrapper leaf is usually prepared for use the day before it is 
actually used in manufacture. It is first brought into the necessary 
moist condition, or gotten into “case,” by dipping into water. The 
leaves are bound into small bundles in which the bases of the leaves 
are tied together. These bundles, or “ hands,” are grasped by their’ 
bases and carried down into and through the “casing” liquid with 
a scooping motion, so performed as to drag the bundle of leaves with 
the bases ahead, the blades of the leaves being pulled through the 
liquid. After this quick dip, the bundles are shaken and set upright 
on a draining board to permit the surplus liquid to drain away. 
The pile, loosely packed together, is then covered with a moist cloth 
and allowed to stand until the droplets of water clinging to the sur- 
face of the leaves have been absorbed. In a few hours the leaf be- 
comes soft and pliable without giving the impression of being wet. 
The ribs are then pulled out and the broad leaf blades are worked 
up as their size, shape, and quality may determine. The freshly 
made cigars are then sorted according to colors and boxed immedi- 
ately, or sometimes held in bundles, to be packed later. 
In this condition each cigar is round, and the prescribed number 
of cigars when placed in the box overfill it, so that the cover must be 
brought into place by the use of pressure. Here the moist cigars 
yield to each other and take on such flattened sides and angles as 
may be required to get the box closed. Sometimes the lids of the 
boxes are considerably bent by the pressure of the fresh cigars, and 
the boxes are then placed for a day in large presses before they are 
nailed up. In warm weather the mold sometimes appears while the 
boxed cigars are in the presses; that is, within 48 hours after they are 
made, but more frequently within a week or two after making. 
When warm, humid weather conditions prevail it is not rare for 
molds to appear while the cigars are in transit or in storage. Since 
heat and moisture are necessary conditions for mold development, 
it follows that little trouble is experienced in the winter months but 
much during the hot summer months. 
A number of attempts had been made by the factory managers 
to remove this source of loss. Small quantities of vinegar in the 
water (1 pint in 4 or 5 gallons) used for casing wrapper leaf were 
found to aggravate the trouble. When the leaf was cased in vinegar 
at full strength the molds were suppressed, but the luster of the 
leaf was thought to be impaired. Casing in alcoholic solutions was 
found to be helpful, but too expensive. Small quantities of glyc- 
erin were found to be useless in suppressing molds, but helpful in 
retaining moisture in the wrapper. 
