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83,273,149 pounds; 1895, 89,945,565 pounds. Both leaf and strips are taken, and a variable quantity is reexported. Among the requirements are about 40,000 hogsheads of Western tobacco, of which there are some 28,000 hogsheads of Western strips, and 10,000 hogɛheads of dried leaf, and about 2,000 hogsheads of White Burley. From 8,000 to 10,000 hogsheads of Virginia and North Carolina leaf, and from 10,000 to 14,000 hogsheads of Virginia, North Carolina and East Tennessee strips are also included in the demand for the trade and consumption in the United Kingdom. Within recent years the consumption of leaf tobacco has increased in the English markets, under an arrangement with the revenue department by which the manufacturer is allowed to return the stems into the hands of the proper officer, for destruction or exportation. In some forms of manufacture, the stem is compressed in the leaf into a thin plate, and then split, so as to divide the leaf into two parts.

The Bird's-Eye cutter is the only type used exclusively in the leaf in English consumption. It consists of a very bright, smooth, thin and clean leaf, with as little gum and oil as possible. The color of both the upper and under sides of the leaf must be of uniform and similar shades of bright color, and the stem must be of a brightish brown color on the outside, and white on the inside, or upper side, of the leaf. Each section into which the stem is cut presents an appearance on the cut surface of the eye of a bird, and hence its name. This type, formerly grown only in the lower Green River district of Kentucky, and in the Clarksville district, is now largely grown in the Burley districts, and in Virginia and North Carolina.

Fine Roll wrapper is a bright red or full bright leaf, of good breadth, thin and smooth in texture, almost destitute of oil, resembling the leaf used by our domes

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FLATE X. HEAVY SHIPPING TOBACCO (topped ready for harvesting). Name of variety, Yellow Mammoth. Hight, 30 inches; bottom leaves,

30 inches long and 19 inches wide; middle leaves, 34x20 inches; top leaves, 35x22 inches wide. The lower leaf is 10 inches from the ground; the upper, 30 inches from the ground. Distance between each leaf on the stalk, 2 2-9 inches. Grown in Robertson county, orthern Tennessee.

tic manufacturers for making fine cut. It is used in England as a wrapper for spinning brown roll. The wrapper is filled with suitable fillers, and the whole spun into a strand about one inch in diameter. This is coiled like a rope, from which sections are cut for retail. The filler for the brown roll is of the same type as the wrapper, but of a lower grade. The midrib for this roll is always removed.

Spinning leaf, or strips, is a type consisting of a long, rich and oily leaf, of full brown color, good weight and body, strong and elastic in texture, and of general smoothness. Brighter colors are growing in demand for spinning leaf. Formerly the "fatty" types of the Clarksville district were in demand for this purpose, but the requirements of the German market depreciated their value so much that less oily types are now substituted. The strand into which this is spun is of a smaller size than that of the brown roll. A still smaller strand is spun, called Lady's Twist, which is consumed principally in Scotland, Ireland and in the north of England. The wrapper for the latter consists of a smaller and shorter leaf, but of the same general quality as that used for the larger strand.

There is a coarsely cut manufactured product, known as Shag, much used in England. The supply of tobacco for this is drawn mainly from southern Indiana and the Green River district of Kentucky. This tobacco has but little gum, but more than has the leaf used in the United States for making fine cut. It is called a heavy cutter. Substitutes for it came from Japan, Java, Paraguay and the Dutch possessions.

Plug wrappers for the English market consist of rich brown leaves, smooth in structure, medium in size, and strong and elastic in texture. Plug wrappers are in limited demand in the United Kingdom because the consumption of plug tobacco is very small. Plug fillers

used in England are the short, common and imperfect leaves of the same general character as the wrappers.

The Navy plug, for use in the English navy, was made of the best of Green River redried fillers, until the substitution, in a large part, of the White Burley fillers. These now compose the largest portion of the material used in the manufacture of Navy plug in quarters, half pounds and pounds. A short, fully ripened, clean and oily leaf is used in Ireland for fillers. The Bird's-Eye and Irish fillers are sold in the English market in the leaf for the special consumption to which they are adapted.

Scotch Elder is a type very popular in England and Scotland. It is a leaf of good size, and reddish in color. It has great absorptive or drinking capacity, very porous, containing a small content of gummy matter, with a medium texture as to fineness. The cause of its great popularity is that as much as fifty-five pounds of water may be added to one hundred pounds of tobacco before it is sold to consumers. As the tax on every pound of tobacco imported to England is about seventy-six cents, it will be seen that the greatest profits to the retailer come from the capacity of the tobacco to absorb and retain moisture.

The Scotch and Irish spinners are almost identical in character with the English spinners.

CONTINENTAL SHIPPERS-REGIE TYPES.

French Regie Types.-The exports of American tobacco to France were, 35,363,885 pounds in 1891; 39,773,013 pounds in 1892; 39,508,592 pounds in 1893; 38,268,008 pounds in 1894; and 34,943,161 pounds in 1895. This amount is usually made up of about 11,000 hogsheads of Western tobacco, 1000 hogsheads of Virginia, 4000 hogsheads of Maryland and a variable quanity of eastern Ohio tobacco, possibly 2000 hogsheads.

Of the Western tobacco, about half is Burley, and the demand for that type is rapidly increasing. This is manifested in the changes made for the requirement of the French Regie, for 1896, which called for 8,038,530 pounds of Burley, as against 5,894,922 pounds in 1895; 1,339,755 pounds of heavy Kentucky, as against 1,607,706 pounds in 1895; 8,842,383 pounds of light Kentucky, as against 15,005,256 pounds in 1895; and 1,607,706 pounds Virginia, as against 2,277,584 pounds in 1895. The demand for Burley was increased by about 2000 hogsheads. The demand for Maryland tobacco was also increased, but no call was made for the tobacco of northeastern Ohio.

It will be seen that there is a considerable variation in the character of the tobacco taken by the French Regie. Usually the French demand may be reduced to two distinct lines of classification, as heavy and light, with considerable irregularity as to grade, and deficiency as to distinctiveness in type. Two things are usually insisted upon: The stem must be absolutely free from mold, and the leaf must be supple enough to open freely. There are types of both heavy and light, known as A's, B's and C's. Type A consists of a leaf from twentythree to twenty-five inches long, of moderately smooth appearance, dark brown in color, and heavy or light, according to the classification. This type is supplied by White Burley, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee tobacco. Type B is of the same quality as type A, except as to length, which may be from eighteen to twenty-two inches. Type C consists of good, sound, clear lugs, or common leaf of moderately heavy body, running from the Clarksville and western Kentucky type of medium weight and body, to the lower Green River product of medium weight of body.

It is said that France puts up the best smoking tobacco in Europe, and the product is made absolutely

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