The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1867-11-02
Snuff Making in France.

Virginia and kentucky tobacco, with
French leaf from the northern departments
is that which is generally selected for max
ing snuff, on account of the superabundance
of nicotine in its composition. The remains
of other tobaccos which have been subjected
10 triage are added, and the whole mass
| is piled in heaps on the tiled floor OF large
room, where the operation of moistening
| the tobacco with salt water takes place.
Salt water is used for two reasons First,
to prevent the putrefaction of the animal
matters contained in the tobacco, and sec.
ondly, because salt, being deliquescent,
tends to maintain the required degree OF
humidity.
When the amount of moisture contained
by the mass istwcnty per cent. or its weight,
the tobacco is taken TO the chopping ma
chimes or hdchoirs, which are worked by
powerful engines, and it is then stored in
square heaps of four metres in height for
lbout four months and half, in rooms ON
the ground floor. BY this time tempcra.
lurc of seventy degrees will have been OBJ
| tanned, the color of the whole will be uni
form, and the ammonicai and volatile odors
will be strongly developed. Great care is
necessary in this stage Of the process, as the
tobacco, if allowed to become too hot, might
carbonizc-a result which has been produced
lnOIc budll OHCC ny ii HcdNy
When sufficiently lermcnted the tobacco
is taken up into room on the second floor,
and dcsccnds thence, through holes made
Tor the purpose, into mills, the rollers oil
which are furnished with blades similar to
those used in coffee mills.
reduced to Il tolcrably fine powder by this
preliminary grinding, the tobacco drops on.
to all endless band, and is taken up TO the
third story of the building, whence II is pre-
cipitated on to sieve situated on the second.
What Is fine enough to pass through the
sieve finds its way by means of a Pie to a
room on the floor beneath, where it is re
ccvcd into sacks.
The powder which is too coarse TO pass
through the sieve is carried off by a pipe
having All Archmedcan rcrcw, working
within it, which causes the powder to fall
through apertures made in the pipe at the
required distances, into tho grinding mills
on tho first floor, WHENCE it is returned to
the upper stories by The endless band III the
manner described above.
TO perform these operations before the
adoption Of the steam machinery at present
IN use, more than seven hundred men were
employed, and their labor was OF an ul.
wholesome aud painful nature, on account
Of the irritating atmosphere OF tobacco dust
IN which they were compelled to live. a
proper system Of screens has entirely rem
cdicd this evil in the case OF the seven men
who now suffice to perform the entire labor
connected with the process.
The ground tobacco is packed in cases for
Two months, longer, wetted again, mixed
and repacked. During this time it under.
goes second Fermentation, attains q ten.
perature OF nearly fifty degrees, and finally
arrives at the state in which it is sold to the
consumer. The whole process lasts about
twenty months, and ut the end of that period
the snuff is packed in strong casks made at
the mandatory, rammed down very tightly
and sent to the central warehouse, whence
it is distributed to the retail establishments
of the respective districts.