Part 55
If you were guessing you would naturally say that gold is, of course, the most valuable of the metals. But you would be wrong. The proper answer to this is iron. We do not mean the pound for pound value, for you could get much more money for a pound of gold than for a pound of iron, but we mean in useful value--iron is in that sense the most valuable metal known to man. This is so because iron is of great service to man in so many different ways, and it is very well that there is so great a quantity of it for man’s use.
[Illustration: WHERE DOES TOBACCO COME FROM?
GROWING TOBACCO UNDER CHEESECLOTH.]
The Story in a Pipe and Cigar[6]
[6] Copyright by Tobacco Leaf Publishing Co.
Where Did the Name Tobacco Originate?
It is now generally agreed that the word tobacco is derived from “tobago,” which was an Indian pipe. The tobago was Y-shaped, and usually consisted of a hollow, forked reed, the two prongs of which were fitted into the nostrils, the smoke being drawn from tobacco placed in the end of the stem. The island of Tobago, contrary to the belief of many, did not furnish the name for tobacco, but on the other hand, it was given that name by Columbus, owing to its resemblance in shape to the Indian pipe.
How Was Tobacco Discovered?
While tobacco is now found growing in all inhabited countries, it is a native of the Americas and adjacent islands. Its discovery by civilized man was coincident with the discovery of this continent by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Columbus and his adventurous sailors found the native Indians using the weed on the explorer’s first visit to the new world. Investigation has established that the plant was first used as a religious rite and gradually became a social habit among the natives. Columbus and his Castilian successors carried the weed to Spain. Sir Walter Raleigh took it to England, Jean Nicot, whose name is immortalized in nicotine, introduced it to the French; adventurous traders brought the seed to Turkey and Syria, and Spanish argosies carried it westward from Mexico to the Philippines and thence to China and Japan. Thus within two centuries after its discovery tobacco was being cultivated in nearly every country and was being used by every race of men.
Where Does Tobacco Grow?
While tobacco is a native of the Americas, it is a fact that it will grow after a fashion almost anywhere. Milton Whitney, Chief of the Division of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, in his bulletin on tobacco soils says tobacco can be grown in nearly all parts of the country even where wheat and corn cannot economically be grown. The plant readily adapts itself to the great range of climatic conditions, will grow on nearly all kinds of soil and has a comparatively short season of growth. But while it can be so universally grown, the flavor and quality of the leaf are greatly influenced by the conditions of climate and soil. The industry has been very highly specialized and there is only demand now for tobacco possessing certain qualities adapted to certain specific purposes.... It is a curious and interesting fact that tobacco suitable for our domestic cigars, is raised in Sumatra, Cuba and Florida, and then passing over our middle tobacco States the cigar type is found again in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.... It is surprising to find so little difference in the meteorological record for these several places during the crop season. There does not seem to be sufficient difference to explain the distribution of the different classes of tobacco, and yet this distribution is probably due mainly to climatic conditions.... The plant is far more sensitive to these meteorological conditions than are our instruments. Even in such a famous tobacco region as Cuba, tobacco of good quality cannot be grown in the immediate vicinity of the ocean or in certain parts of the island that would otherwise be considered good tobacco lands. This has been experienced also in Sumatra and in our own country, but the influences are too subtle to be detected by our meteorological instruments.... Under good climatic conditions, the class and type of tobacco depend upon the character of the soil, especially on the physical character of the soil upon which it is grown, while the grade is dependent largely upon the cultivation and curing of the crop. Different types of tobacco are grown on widely different soils all the way from the coarse sandy lands of the Pine Barrens, to the heavy, clay, limestone, corn and wheat lands. The best soil for one kind of tobacco, therefore, may be almost worthless for the staple agricultural crops, while the best for another type of tobacco may be the richest and most productive soil of any that we have.
~WHERE HAVANA TOBACCO IS GROWN~
Havana tobacco, which means all tobacco grown on the island of Cuba, possesses peculiar qualities which make it the finest tobacco in the world for cigar purposes. The island produces from 350,000 to 500,000 bales annually, of which 150,000 to 250,000 bales come to the United States for use in American cigar factories. The best quality of the Cuban tobacco comes largely from the Vuelta Abajo section, although some very choice tobaccos are raised also in the Partidos section. Remedios tobaccos are more heavily bodied than others and are used almost exclusively for blending with our domestic tobaccos. While there are innumerable sub-classifications, such as Semi-Vueltas, Remates, Tumbadero, etc., the three general divisions named above, Vuelta Abajo, Partidos and Remedios, embrace the entire island. If a fourth general classification were to be added, it would be Semi-Vueltas. The Vuelta Abajo is grown in the Province of Pinar del Rio, located at the western end of the island. It is raised practically throughout the entire province. Semi-Vueltas are also grown in Pinar del Rio, but the trade draws a line between them and the genuine Vueltas. Partidos tobacco, which is grown principally in the Province of Havana, differs from the Vuelta Abajo in that it is of a much lighter quality. The
## Partidos country is famous for its production of fine light glossy
wrappers. Tobacco from the foregoing sections is used principally in the manufacture of clear Havana cigars. Some of the heavier Vueltas, however, are also used for seed and Havana cigar purposes. Remedios, otherwise known as Vuelta-Arriba, is grown in the Province of Santa Clara, located in the center of the island. This tobacco is taken almost entirely by the United States and Europe and is used here for filler purposes, principally in seed and Havana cigars. Its general characteristics are a high flavor and rather heavy body, which make it especially suitable for blending with our domestic tobaccos. Havana tobacco is packed and marketed in bales.
Preparing the Seed Beds.
The first step is the preparation of the seed beds. For these beds low, rich, hardwood lands are selected. The trees are cut down and the wood split, converted into cord wood and piled up to dry. About the middle of January this wood is stacked up on skid poles and ignited. The ground is thus cleared by burning, the fires being moved from spot to spot until a sufficient area is cleared. By this process all grass, weeds, brush and insects are eradicated. The ground is then dug up with hoes and cleared off and a perfect seed bed is made.
The tobacco seed is first mixed with dry ashes in the proportion of about a tablespoonful of seed to a gallon of the ashes, and about this quantity is sowed over a square rod of land. This amount is calculated to supply plants enough for one acre of ground, but the farmers usually double the planting as a precaution against emergencies. After the seed beds are sowed they are covered over with cheesecloth as a means of protection, and they are carefully weeded and watered until the leaves have attained a length of about four inches. They are then ready for transplanting, which operation begins about the middle of April.
Fertilization.
In the meantime, the tobacco-growing areas have been prepared by plowing and fertilizing. The matter of fertilization has been the subject of much study and many experiments, and it has been definitely established that cow manure is one of the best for this purpose. This natural fertilizer is distributed on the fields at the rate of ten to twenty two-horse loads to each acre. In addition to this from two hundred to three hundred pounds of carbonate of potash, and from two thousand to three thousand pounds of bright cottonseed meal are employed. The total cost of this fertilizer amounts to about $120 per acre.
Planting.
After the fertilizer is well plowed into the land the ground is laid off into ridges about four feet apart, made by throwing two one-horse furrows together. These ridges are about two feet in width and are flattened on the top so as to make a level bed for the young plant. The farmer then measures off and marks these rows at intervals of 16 to 18 inches. At each mark he makes a small hole, and after pouring in a pint of water the plant is carefully set. Machine planters are used for this purpose to a limited extent.
Care of the Growing Crop.
The growers usually calculate on finishing their planting about the first of June. The young plants are then closely watched and are hoed and cultivated at least once a week. They are also supplied with sufficient water to keep them alive and growing. At this stage of the proceedings, the planter begins to look out for worms. The butter worm is one of his greatest enemies. This is a small green moth that lays its eggs in the bud of the plant and turns into a worm two days later. To stop the ravages of this insect, it is customary to use a mixture composed of some insecticide mixed with corn meal. A small pinch of this mixture is inserted at regular intervals in the bud of each plant until the plant is nearly grown.
When the tobacco is about three feet high, all such leaves as were on the plant when it was first set out are picked off and thrown away. About this time the crop is usually threatened by another enemy known as the horn worm. This is a large, mouse-colored moth, which swarms over the field about sun-down, and deposits green eggs about the size of a very small bird shot, on the back sides of the leaves. This is a very ravenous insect and unless carefully watched it will devour every leaf of tobacco, leaving nothing but the stalks standing. It is removed by picking off and by insecticides.
[Illustration: A FIELD OF FINE HAVANA.]
Harvesting.
About sixty to ninety days after setting, the bottom leaves on the plant are ripe and the grower is able to remove from three to four on each stalk. This is called priming. The primer detaches each leaf carefully and places it face down in his left hand, inspecting it at the same time to see that no worms are carried to the barns. Upon accumulating a handful, he places them in baskets that are lined with burlap to prevent injury to the leaf, and the filled baskets are either carried or hauled to the barns.
About this time the plants have begun to bud out at the top, and this bud, with a few small leaves around it, is broken off. This process is called topping, and is done for the purpose of confining the development of the plant to the leaves below. After topping, the priming of the tobacco is continued for about three weeks, and until all the upper leaves of marketable value have been harvested. In the meantime, the suckering has to be looked after, which is the removing of the small branches that have a tendency to grow out of the main stalk of the plant.
In the barns the leaves are placed on long tables, behind which stand the stringers. They string the leaves, each separately, on strong cotton twine, about thirty leaves to a string, spaced about an inch apart. If this is not done carefully and accurately, several leaves may become bunched together and the cure will thereby be impaired. It is attention to this detail which prevents the defect known as pole-sweat. These strings are tied at either end to a tobacco lath, and the lath is hung upon two poles. These poles are placed in courses in the barn, at spaces of two feet, one above the other.
[Illustration: A MODERN CUBAN TOBACCO PLANTATION.]
~HOW TOBACCO IS CURED~
Here the tobacco undergoes its preliminary, or barn cure, and during this period the grower is constantly on the anxious seat, having to open and close his curing houses according to the changes in the weather, and to look closely after the ventilation of his crop in order to avoid the development of stem rot and other afflictions with which the tobacco is threatened at this stage of the proceedings.
[Illustration: A STAND OF TOBACCO IN EACH HAND.]
Bulk Sweating.
In due course of time the laths are taken down, the strings removed and the leaves are formed into hands and tied with a string. The tobacco is then packed temporarily in cases and delivered at the fermenting house, where it is put into what is known as the bulk sweat. This consists of uniform piles of tobacco covered over with blankets, and which are frequently “turned” in order that they shall cure evenly and not become too dark in color. From the bulk sweat the tobacco goes to the sorting tables, where it is divided into numerous grades of length and color. It is then turned over to the packers, who form it into bales.
How is Tobacco Cultivated?
As the young plants spring up and begin to grow, they are thinned out, watered and cared for until along in October or November, and as soon as the weather becomes settled for the season, the little seedlings are transplanted into the field. Some growers use shade, but most of the tobacco is grown in the open. The plants are placed in rows, very much as corn is planted, only farther apart. The plants are carefully protected from weeds and insects, and in December the early tobacco is ready to be harvested. Here the mode of procedure differs according to the discretion of the grower. The plan universally in vogue until recent years was to cut the plant down at the base of the stalk. Lately, however, the more scientific growers harvest their tobacco gradually, picking it leaf by leaf, according as they ripen and mature. The tobacco is then allowed to lie in the field until the leaves are wilted. The stalks (or stems, according to the method followed) are then strung on _cujes_ or poles, so that the plants hang with the tips down. The tobacco is then allowed to hang in the sun until it is dry and later carried into the barns, where the poles are suspended in tiers until the barn is full. Tobacco barns everywhere are constructed with movable, or rather, adjustable, side and end walls which permit of a constant adjustment of the ventilation. While hanging in the barn the tobacco undergoes its preliminary cure and changes in color from the green of the growing plant to a yellowish brown. The climatic changes have to be carefully studied during this process. If the weather is extremely dry it is customary to keep the barns closed in the daytime and to open the ventilators at night. It is generally desirable to keep the tobacco fairly dry while it is undergoing the barn cure. After a few weeks, and when the hanging tobacco has reached the proper stage of maturity, a period of damp weather is looked for so that the dry leaves may be rehandled without injury. When the desired shower comes along the tobacco is stripped off the poles and placed in _pilon_--that is, in heaps, or piles, on the floors of the barns and warehouses, each pile being covered with blankets. Here, being in a compact mass, it undergoes the _calentura_, or fever, by which it is pretty thoroughly cured, the color changing to a deeper brown. After about two weeks in the piles it is sorted, tied into small bundles or carrots, and these in turn are packed in bales. After being baled the tobacco, if allowed to remain undisturbed, undergoes a third cure, by which it is greatly improved in quality. It is then ready for the factory.
[Illustration: A TOBACCO BARN.]
The Shade-growing Method.
The shade-growing method is one of the institutions of modern tobacco cultivation. The principle is this: The sun, shining on the tobacco plants, draws the nutrition from the earth, and the plant ripens quickly, the leaves having a tendency to be heavy-bodied and not very large. To defeat these results and produce large, thin, silky leaves for cigar-wrapper purposes, the grower sometimes covers his field with a tent of cheesecloth or with a lattice-work of lathing which protects the growing tobacco from the direct rays of the sun. Thus the ripening process is slower, causing the leaves to grow larger and thinner and less gummy; and being thinner and less gummy, they are of a lighter color when finally cured. This method is employed by some growers in cigar-leaf districts, such as Cuba, Florida and Connecticut.
[Illustration: TAKING TOBACCO FROM BALES]
How Are Cigars Made?
While many labor-saving devices have been introduced in all branches of tobacco manufacture, it is a curious fact that in the production of the best grade of cigars, namely, the clear Havana, the work is done entirely by hand. In fact, it may be said that in the process of manufacturing fine cigars exactly the same principles are followed as those of two centuries ago. There has been much improvement in the artisanship of the worker, of course, but no rudimentary change in method. In the manufacture of snuff, chewing and pipe tobacco, cigarettes and all-tobacco cigarettes, machinery plays an important part; and mechanical devices are also used extensively in the production of five-cent cigars and in the still higher priced grades of part-domestic cigars, such as the seed and Havana. Some of these appliances are almost human in their ingenuity. But in fashioning the tobacco of Cuba into cigars that are perfect in shape, in formation and in all the qualities that go to make a good cigar, there is no substitute for the human hand.
Upon opening a bale of tobacco the workman takes each carrot out separately, shakes it gently to separate the leaves, and then moistens it, either by dipping it into a tub of water from which it is quickly removed and shaken to throw off the surplus water or else by spraying it with a blower. It is left in this condition over night, so that the leaves may absorb the moisture and become uniformly damp and pliable.
The tobacco is then turned over to the strippers, who remove the midrib from each leaf, at the same time separating the wrapper from the filler. From this point on the treatment of the wrappers and fillers is different.
The half leaves suitable for fillers are spread out and placed one on top of the other, making what are called books. These books are placed side by side, closely together, on a board, and a similar board is placed on top of the tobacco to hold it in position. Later, it is packed into barrels, the tops of which are covered with burlap, and there it undergoes a fermentation. It is usually allowed to remain in this condition for ten days or two weeks, when it is rehandled and inspected, and if found to be in the right condition, it is placed on racks, where it remains until it is in just the proper state of dryness to be ready for working.
~THE GREAT CARE NECESSARY IN SELECTION~
The wrapper leaves, after leaving the hands of the stripper, are taken by the wrapper selector, who sits, usually, at a barrel, and spreads out each leaf, one on top of the other, over the edge of the barrel, assorting them as to size, color, etc., into several different piles or books. Each of these piles is divided into packs of twenty-five each, and each lot of twenty-five is folded over into what is called a “pad” and tied with a stem. It is in this form that they go to the cigarmaker.
Every morning the stock is distributed among the cigarmakers. Each workman is given enough tobacco to make a certain number of cigars, and when his work is finished he must return either the full number of cigars or the equivalent in unused leaves.
The tools of the cigarmaker consist merely of a square piece of hardwood board, a knife and a pot of gum tragacanth. He sits at a table upon which rests the board, and at which there is also a gauge on which the different lengths are indicated. Fastened to the front of each table is a sack or pocket of burlap into which the cuttings that accumulate on the table are brushed. The operator deftly cuts his wrapper from the leaf, fashions the filler into proper form and size in the palm of his hand (this is known as the “bunch”) and rolls the tobacco into cigar form, In winding the wrapper around the “bunch” the operator begins at the “lighting end” of the cigar, called the “tuck,” and finishes at the end that goes into the mouth, which is called the “head.” A bit of gum tragacanth is used to fasten the leaf securely at the “head.” The cigar is then held to the gauge and is trimmed smoothly off to the proper length by a stroke of the knife at the “tuck.” The cigars are taken up in bundles of fifty each. They next pass into the hands of the selectors, who separate them into different piles, according to the color of the wrappers, and who also reject any cigars that may be of faulty construction. Broken wrappers, bad colors or any other defects are sufficient to cause the rejection of a cigar. The rejected cigars are known as _resagos_ (“throwouts”) or _secundos_.
From the selectors the cigars go to the packers, whose duty it is to place them in the boxes, and to see that the colors in each box are uniform, marking the temporary color classification on each box in lead pencil. After being packed, the filled boxes are put into a press and so left for twelve hours or until the cigars conform somewhat to the shape of the box which contains them. On being removed from the press, if to be banded, the cigars are carefully removed in layers from the box, the bands affixed, and the cigars replaced. The goods are then placed in an air-tight vault to await shipment.