made in the factory. The leaves are then brought into a high state of moisture by steam, and the midribs or stems removed. The stems form about 30 per cent of the whole quantity, and the leaf about 70 per cent. After this, the strips or stemless leaves are passed, by chutes, to the next floor below, which is called the wrapper room (Fig. 131), where the sauces and other flavorings are applied by dipping the leaves in a vat filled with the flavoring liquids. These sauces are compounded and cooked in immense kettles arranged for the purpose, and their density is determined by hydrometers, so as to keep them true to the formula adopted. These formulas are usually one of the secrets of the manufacturer, and upon the popularity of the flavor used depend, in great degree, the profits of the business. This sweet. ened and cooked liquid is poured into immense vats. After the leaves have been thoroughly saturated with the liquid, they are made to pass through wringers, so as to press out the surplus liquid, which flows back into the vat. The leaves are then passed over a series of heated rollers, becoming thoroughly dry, but are again reordered by steam and packed in bulk, to remain until wanted for making into plug.

The next step is to pass the mass of sweetened leaves, by a chute, to the floor below, or lump room, where it is weighed, enough at a time to make a plug, and this quantity is put in a shaper, which gives the desired form and size to the plugs. These pressed plugs are passed to benches or stands, where the wrappers are put on by skillful men. These wrappers are carefully selected, as to color and character of leaf, so that the same general appearance may be given to the plugs of the same class. All plugs deficient in weight or defective in color are rejected. The perfect plugs are now dried and packed in boxes for the floor below, where they are put in iron cases and pressed and creased (Fig. 132, Page 460).

The different brands require different hydraulic pressure. Shape mills and pot mills are used. While the plugs are under pressure, they are put in gums and allowed to sweat or ferment. Some brands are fermented lightly, others undergo a long process of fermentation. In each case, the purpose is to adapt it to the market for which it is intended and where it is in demand.

After this fermenting process, the plugs are taken out and again carefully inspected, the faulty ones being rejected and the perfect ones tagged and packed in boxes. When the boxes are filled, only enough pressure is put on to get in the heads. When these are fastened in the boxes, they are sent to the shipping room, where they are branded with name, size of the plug, and the gross and net weights of each box. There is a groove on each box for the government stamp, which must be placed on each package, and then varnished and canceled. The boxes are strapped in packages of five or more, for shipment.

Cut plug tobacco is carried through a similar process, except that it is not wrapped. It is made into various sizes, blocks or slabs, and cut into slices for fancy tin or paper box work, or shagged for boxes or pouches, as customers may desire. Cut plug is made by a costly patented machine, constructed for the purpose. It is put up in packages varying in weight from two to sixteen ounces, stamped and packed in wooden cases for shipment, according to the requirements of the trade.

The J. Wright Company, of Richmond, Va., to whom the authors are indebted for the cuts that accompany this description, and also for the main data contained in it, is one of the largest plug manufacturing establishments in the world. The company has every modern appliance, convenience and improvement for facilitating the work and obtaining the highest results, as to the excellence and handsome appearance of their products.

It uses seven distinct styles of wrappers: 1, Lemon; 2, orange; 3, bright mahogany; 4, dark mahogany; 5, piebald or tortoise shell; 6, black wrapper; 7, cherry red. The factory employs from 350 to 400 hands, and has the capacity for turning out 15,000 pounds of manafactured work daily. Every department is thoroughly organized and run on correct business principles. An idea of its works is given in Fig. 133, Page 462.

THE MANUFACTURE OF SNUFF.

There are five kinds of snuff manufactured in the United States: The Scotch or "eating" snuff, the maccaboy or inhaling snuff, the sweet snuff and salting snuff, the two latter being used for dipping. Rappee snuff is made, to some extent, in the United States, but largely in France, from American tobacco.

The material used for making Scotch snuff consists of heavy, dark tobacco of medium grade, and good "fatty" lugs. The stock is kept at least two years in hogsheads before it is used. It is then taken out, bundle by bundle, and passed through a cutting machine, where the leaves, including the stems, are coarsely cut. When cut, it is packed in hogsheads and made to go through three successive fermentations.

In these processes of fermentation, the heat reaches from 90° to 100° F. Each period of fermentation is arrested by exposing the tobacco to the air. It is then repacked and made to go through another fermentation. After three fermentations, which require about six weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less, according to the richness and character of the tobacco used,-the tobacco is thoroughly dried, by exposing it in wide, flat iron pans for a short time to a high degree of heat. It is then carried from the pans to pulverizers, which consist of a series of mills, each of which has three heavy iron rollers rubbing against the concave and inner sur

FIG. 132.

"PRESS ROOM," WHERE THE PLUGS ARE PRIZED AND PACKED IN BOXES.

face of a hemispherical iron vessel, the pulverized tobacco being discharged through an opening in the bottom, like that of a fixed wash basin. The snuff passes from the pulverizers to bolting cloths, not unlike those used for bolting flour. After it is bolted, the process of manufacture is completed. The snuff is then, by a machine, packed automatically in six-ounce bottles made for the purpose, or in four-ounce tin cans, and put in wooden boxes holding eighteen pounds or less, for shipping. The largest market for this snuff is Germany. It is used extensively, especially by the negroes, and to a lesser extent by white people, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territory. Sinaller quantities are used in all the States.

Maccaboy snuff is used, both for inhaling and the mouth. It is highly perfumed, the attar of roses being the chief ingredient. It is consumed largely in New England. Until recently, only Virginia tobacco was employed in its manufacture, but now about an equal quantity of Tennessee, or Kentucky, and Virginia is used, and it consists of a heavy bodied leaf of a waxen character. The snuff is darkened by being scorched to some extent, and by being subjected to treatment by dark sauces.

Sweet snuff is made, like Scotch snuff, by treating the leaves of tobacco with some preparation of licorice before the snuff is made. It is used exclusively for dipping, and finds the greatest number of consumers in the Carolinas.

Salting snuff is made of the same character of tobacco as Scotch snuff, but it is salted. It is also used for the mouth.

Rappee snuff is made exclusively from Virginia tobacco. It is manufactured principally in France, the tobacco for that purpose being imported by the regie contractors. Years ago, when the dark crop of tobacco was much larger than it is now, the French government