St. Landry democrat., 1882-09-30

AL, 236, 900 cigars made in New York
City. These. at Sc per thousand, yielded
very handsome revenue to the Govern
ment.
The cigar industry is controlled by
foreigners, and all have made money.
Cigar makers come principally from
Germany; many are from Bohemia, and
few are from Belgium, Holland and
England. German cigarmakers are
coming over now in large numbers, and
are settling in New York at the rate OF
! COCOA year. They all find employment
at remunerative wares. A good work
man gets $40 per 1000 for making
/ cigars, and he can turn out from 500 to
! 700 cigars a day.
Tobacco is peculiar plant. Every
leaf differs. The more tender the leaf
the finer the quality. machinery has
yet been perfected to supplant the skill
tul manipulation of the human hand, al
though there have been numerous at
tempts to make cigars by machinery.
! The essential parts OF CT car are the
filler aud the binder which is called
bunch, and the wrapper. The wrapper
is not the thirtieth part Of cigar. and
yet it is the part which imparts flavor
to the whole A bad wrapper will spoil
the filler and binder, while a good
wrapper put on poor bunch will make
very good smoke. The Introduction
OF a new tobacco grown on the island
of Slmatra into this market has lately
caused great tutter in the trade.
This tobacco is grown under the direc-
ton OF a wealthy Dutch syndicate at
Amsterdam. which employs coolies
raise tobacco on their possessions in
the East Indies ! The tobacco has only
been in this market two years. yet it is
gaining favor so rapidly that the i'm
portations of it have increased at the
rate of 100 per cent. a year. In 1874
the total tobacco product OF the Isl
and of Sumatra was only 96.463
pounds Last month 1922 pounds
alone were brought to New York. The
Sumat'a leaf is cured so WELL and is so
glossy and handsome in appearance,
that cigar-makers eagerly take it. Its
quality is very poor, but since four
pounds of it will cover 1000 cigars,
where twelve pounds OF seed or domes-
tic are ord narily used, it is much
cheaper 30 use Sumatra tobacco where
appearance only is considered, notWlth-
standing its duty Of thirty-tiye cents a
pound and ten per cent, ad valorem
Cigar manufacturers say that American
growers of tobacco have become very
careless in the cultivation of their to-
bacco crops. 1t requires one year of
curing before the crop is ready 1or the
market. and the 80 and 81 crops have
been found so poor that in self defense
the handsome Samaritan stranger has
been given the preference. Lately the
Tariff Commission, while at Long
Branch, heard arguments Tor the sup
preston of this imported tobacco by
placing on an additional fifty per cent,
or 100 per cent ad valorem duty. Cigar
manufacturers aver that they prefer
to use Pennsylvania or Connecticut
tobacco if they can get it for use in
cigars. The native leaf, they say, has
the quality, but it is poorly cured and
of bad color. The sorting of colors of
Sumatra tobacco is graded with the
most perfect nicely. There are, for in
stance, thi,ty-three shades of brown,
comprising dark red, yellow and middle
browns, and light and dark fallow. 1t
is the nice arrangement of colors which |
causes the Sumatla tobacco to be pre-
ferred, and it is said that American |
growers might take a valuable lesson
from the aresand skill which character.
ize the coolie labor IN. I. Sun. &