Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1885-10-24
70 MAKE TOBACCO SWEAT.
Abe Process ExpisinAd bv . Warehouse
Cicrk-Kssuits Obtained.

"
Cicrk- kssuits Obtained.
fBait.mcre Herald
sweating and Revealing tobacco"
said q young man in the top story OF .
South { harles street warehouse ARE very
interesting and urioa industries
"What does the tern sweating mcanY"
asked the reporter
" rying out the rankness and the gum"
answered the yoAhg man. 1T also
b-iags out the dark colors. l will Ok.
plnin the process TO you briefly. 1t Is
applied only to the leaf tobacco which il
used for cigar wrappers. After the to-
bacco Is cut ii is put on bulk that is. in
large piles. where II remains during the
winter. Then, the following summer.
after being closely packed. it is put
through he tirst sweat 1t Is put IN
bulk IN large warehouses like huge bun.
dies Of lay, and there il stays during the
summer. The natural heat generated
suiiices to do the sweating. sometimes
the heat becomes 80 great that a pile Is set
on fire 10y spontaneous combustion. though
this does not often occur. The tobac o il
packed sia.k b. sta. k with the leaf at
tached. each stalk and Leaf being called q
hand
The resweating Is done, as I said be.
fore. to dry out the rank ess, aud the
super uous gum and to bring out the
dark colors that are SO much admired in
cigar wrappers This, in fact, is the only
way In which the desirable Mnduro and
Oscuro shades car be produced. THE re-
sweating does not affect the strength
OF he leaves, but only the
color. Or, perhaps, should
say, it does not render the tobacco
more strong. 1t Is q popular fallscy that
q strong cigar must have a dark wrapper.
or that q dark wrapper indicates q strong
cigar. AS a matter of fact. il anything.
the dark resweated leaves are milder than
than the natural bun aud snuff colored
leaves"
"how Is the reswe,ting donef" fell
from the mouth of the listening scribe.
I'VE get the hands Of tobacco In large
boxes from the dealers. Ii 10 first taken
out Of these boxes and cased-there.
like that. " lie said. lointing TO u man who
was gathering up double handfuls of the
talks and dipping them. butts down.
ward. for a moment in a trough filled
with water, which was deeply dyed with
the co.oring matter of the leaves. after
soaking the ends OF the bands in the water
they are placed on a casing table. stems
upward. where they are allowed to drain
this consuming from fifteen minutes to
one hour. The stalks are then put back
into the orig nal boxes. and there they re.
main for forty eight hours Zach of
these boxes holds from 100 to $50 pounds
of leaf tobacco.
Next the tobacco is tightly packed in
hcrmctically scaled cast iron boxes, lined
with wood. the boxes holding one third of
a case apiece. After being sealed up. the
boxes are sub iected to a steam heat rang.
ing from 0degrees TO 40 de .recs during
periods varying from three days to thirty.
three days. nc ordirg TO the kind of to-
ba co under treatment. The quality of
leaf varies very greatly In this particular.
For instance, the crop OF lcnnsylvania
leaf IF 1881 was the hardest to sweat nf
any ! ever go in the establishment. VIII le
that OF lNe5 aud OF 1874 was compare
lively easily treated. No two crops of
tobacco are alike. This years
rOp from the same ground with
ie same weather aud under, so
ar as WI know, the same condi-
ions every way. may I've no more like
that Of last year than i:svana leaf is like
Connecticut leaf. 1t diliers in strength.
avor. qua!itr and texture. and for no ex-
plainablc reason. ;onelimes. d, ubtlcss.
the season has something 10 do with it.
After The tobac o comes out of the
sweating room 1t Is removed from the air.
I ght cases and again put on bulk In small
pies. where ii gradual cools during
from forty to forty eight hours. After.
ward il IS acked in tie orig. nal cases and
8 cad icr the market. Il ter being re-
Swtsled The leaf has u sweet odor. cry
mike the rank perfume it gives of in its
natural stuic The width O. tobacco lea es
.ary from our inches to two feet. The
cost OF r~esweating Is 81 per case or z cents
per pound.