Classes 4-6, cigar leaf types are all air-cured, and are classified ac- 
cording to the principal usage of the tobacco--that is, as filler, binder, or 
wrapper--but all are used to some extent for other purposes. For instance, to- 
bacco from binder and wrapper types may be used for all three purposes, and 
some of the lower grades from all three types may go into scrap chewing. An- 
nual cigar-leaf production is now about 120 million pounds, including Puerto 
Rican. Exports are around 6 to 8 million. 
Tobacco of the cigar-filler class is of medium to heavy body. It is so 
called because of its main use as the core or body of the cigar. For this pur- 
pose, the principal factors to be considered are flavor, aroma, and burning 
quality. 
The cigar binder-types, as indicated by the name, were until recently 
used mainly for binding the bunched filler into the form and shape of the 
cigar. Natural leaf binders must have good burning quality, aroma, and elas- 
ticity. However, in the last few years, reconstituted tobacco sheet has rapid- 
ly been replacing the natural leaf for cigar—~binder purposes. As a result of 
this change, scrap chewing tobacco is the principal outlet for the binder 
types. 
Cigar wrappers are the most difficult and the costliest tobaccos to grow. 
They are used primarily for the outside cover on cigars, and leaves must be 
elastic, free of injury, uniform in color, and have good burning qualities. 
They should also be very thin, smooth, and of fine quality. In order to pro- 
duce leaves with such properties, it is necessary to protect them against the 
sun and the extremes of weather. So the fields are enclosed with a framework 
covered with cloth (fig. 5). This cloth screening guards against the direct 
rays of the sun and the force of strong winds, and also provides some protec- 
tion from insects and from overnight changes in temperature. These types are 
commonly called "shade-grown" as descriptive of this method of cultivation. 
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Figure 5.—Aerial view of Connecticut Shade tobacco tents. 
284-023 O - 66 - 2 2 7 — 
