251 



subjected to still another operation for the purpose of improving it 

 which undoubtedly is connected with the introduction of fermentation 

 agencies, and which attain the end of improving the taste and aroma 

 much quicker than simply ageing. Such a treatment, Semler and Ha- 

 nanek say, is the custom in Cuba * Torn and injured leaves which are 

 therefore of no use for cigar manufacture, but which nevertheless must 

 be of irreproachable taste and aroma, are picked out and laid in water 

 for about 8 days, till they become rotten. After the tobacco crop has 

 been fermented and become dry, the separate bundles of tobacco are 

 opened and moderately sprinkled with this water, but very cautiously, 

 and in such a manner that they are not made too damp, as every leaf 

 too damp or soft would rot The bundles consisting of 20 to 3<) leaves 

 are then bound together again, and hung up for some hours in the dry- 

 ing house to get rid of the superfluous water. As soon as that is finished 

 the bundles are tightly packed in boxes in which they remain until 

 given over to be manufactured. Hananek has in his treatise, with per- 

 fect right, concluded that a fermentation takes place in the boxes, 

 caused by the addition of organisms with the maceration water of the 

 rotted leaves, and he points out the analogy between this method and 

 the attempts of Suchsland and Koch to improve their tobacco by means 

 of pure cultivated germs. 



Even the twisting of tobacco influences the quality in as far as in the 

 rolls a secondary fermentation takes place. According to Wagner, Vir- 

 ginia tobacco has, when fresh, a disgusting smell, which only disappears 

 after 12-14 months storage. In order to save this time, it is at first ex- 

 posed for a short time to hot-watery vapour, then allowed to '"sweat" 

 for a time in a room saturated with watery vapour at a pretty high 

 temperature, and finally pressed damp into a hogshead, in which it 

 undergoes a secondary fermentation, which certainly improves it in a 

 very short time. Other tobaccos are also frequently treated in a similar 

 way. They are allowed to ferment again in the absence, or in a very 

 limited quantity, of air ; and in order to induce fermentation, yeast and 

 sugar, i. e. substances capable of fermenting, are often added, as well as 

 tartaric acid or common salt, in order to hinder rotting. The addition 

 of yeast, as well as the frequent occurrence of saccharine substances in 

 the saucesf seem to indicate that by these improving methods, alcoholic 

 fermentations take place. No special researches into all these secondary 

 fermentations have taken place as yet. 



Tobacco destined for snuff and chewing purposes, undergoes fermen- 

 tation like ordinary smoking tobacco ; but snuff tobaccos also undergo 

 special treatment, which vary according to whether the tobacco is fer- 

 mented in a finely divided or in a powdery condition, or whether it is made 

 into "carrot tobacco", which entails a much longer period of fermenta- 

 tion. Since the fermentation of carrot tobacco takes such a long time 

 and involves therefore a loss of interest on capital, the method em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of course snuff is chiefly used. The tempera- 

 ture here rises much higher than in the preliminary fermentation and 

 <sases of spontaneous combustion may even occur. "With regard to the 

 influence of air on the fermentation, it has been shewn by Pinal ard 



* See Bulletin on Tobacco, May, 1889, page 8. 



t Tobacco is often " improved" by the addition of various concoctions technically- 

 called " Sauces." — Translator. 



