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About a thi^d of all cigars contain no Cuban tobacco 



blend; roughly 57 percent have a filler blend that contains some Cub-,. :co; 

 and about 10 percent have 100 or' nearly 100 percent Cuban tobacco for a 

 About 58 percent of the Cuban tobacco used for cigar filler is blended v 

 other filler types, and about hi percent is used as the entire filler, 

 recent years the blended filler cigars have largely taken tobaccos "ted 

 from Cuba mostly valued at from 60 to 80 cents per pound (unstemmed basis, a 

 including duty). Most of this came from the Remedios producing area of Cuba. 

 The substantial proportion of the Cuban filler cigars (the clear Havanas ai 

 the predominantly Havana fillers) have taken tobaccos with values that have 

 ranged from $1.50 to $2.00 per pound (unstemmed basis and including duty). 

 Much of this came from the Vuelta Abajo producing area of Cuba. This subs tan* 

 variation in the values indicates that the Cuban tobacco imported is not a 

 homogeneous commodity. The levels of the values of the Cuban tobacco used in 

 both broad groups of cigars indicate the premium that is placed on Cuban to- 

 bacco by the U. S. cigar industry. 



In the past decade the total quantity of tobacco used for cigar filler 

 has not gained proportionately with the increased number of cigars produced. 

 This mainly reflects the larger share of cigarillos and intermediate-size cigars- 

 produced in recent years. 



Binder 



Of the total 135 million pounds used in cigar manufacture, about l6 r 

 lion pounds were used for the binder part of the cigar- -the inner wrapping to 

 hold together and shape the filler. The percentage distribution of the tobaccos 

 used as binder (unstemmed equivalent) was as follows: 



Percent 

 Total binder for all cigars " 



Connecticut (type 51) 



Pennsylvania (type Ul) 20 



Conn. Valley (type 6l) l8 



Conn. Valley (type 52) l6 



No. Wisconsin (type 55) 13 



Cuba (type 8l) 5 



Other 3 



The transition to reconstituted sheet tobacco for binders had progressed 

 far by the start of the recent 3-year period, and with the additional adop* 

 in recent years, probably nine-tenths or more of all cigars now ha - . set 

 binders. The manufacture of reconstituted binders makes use of substantial 

 quantities of the stems (midribs of leaves). By utilizing these f 

 usable parts of the leaf, the requirement for binder toba 

 reduced from the quantity needed when natural leaf bind 

 the industry. 



The clear Havana cigars utilise tobacco of Cuba; in to make natural 

 leaf binders for a large proportion of sue irs. So far as is it 



