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Young Pennsylvanian Smokes Sixty Cigars a Day in Re
, markable Tests of the 'Weed'' Pedigreed Plants Tried
Out to Determine Best Treatment for Quality So That
Tobacco Users May Be Sure of Getting Money's Worth
N ONS5-f tlie science . laboratories at the University of , Chicago there
la.lt. little room which frequently is blue with tobacco smoke, times
there. comes from its doors a fragrauee that causes" men"to stop atjd
snltf In appreciative delight; at other times the rooin serds forth an
odor thai makes the entire laboratory uninhabitable! and causes stu
dents with a delieate sense of smell to say bard and. unfeeling things
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about the- tobacco
habit. . -
, Here, in this lab
ors toryr Henry Reist Krayblll, a young re
search student from Mount Joy, la Lancas
ter County, Pa., ona of the , largest to
bacco-growing--districts : in - the United f;
Btates, Is working on the problem 'of 1m-
proving -the weed. Here he conducts the
burning tests, the analyses and the strip
tests, from the results of which he expects :
to make the rank cigar a thing of the past
and to make all cigars, from the "two-foiv
five' variety to the sort smoked at our best r ,
clubs, better In taste and aroma. ,
Must Smoke 'Em AIL
Mr. Krayblll necessarily does a great
deal of smoking, not from choice for tho
taste of some of the samples would make
a longshoreman gasp but because such -factors
as aroma and flavor must be '
Judged by the same individual. It is some
times necessary for htm to smoke as many
as sixty cigars a day, smoking an inch of
each,
"What are the points of a good cigar?"
Mr, KraybUl was asked.
"You mean the points en which it is -Judged"
' V
Yej why Is a good cigar good?"
'Well, a cigar has, or should bxet taut.,
cardinal virtues. The first and most im
portant Is a good burn that is, the burn
most bo' even, the cigar must hold its fire,
the ash should be coherent and not flaky,
and there must be no charring In advance
of the burn,
"The second point relates to the flavor.
This is Important to the smoker the cigar
must tickle his palate. The third essential
point has to do with the aroma, 'Which is
the real pleasure-giving quality of the
moke not only to the smoker but to the
bystander. Even though a cigar; has a
rich, smooth, mellow flavor, it should be
classed as a poor one if it gives off a bou
quet which Is offensive to all within range
of its fumes.
It Must Look Good.
M?1aally, a cigar should bave a good
appearance. Really, . it Is surprising how
Important this is. No matter how fine the
burn or how pleasing the flavor of aroma,
a cigar must look the part in order to be
good4 Given two cigars of equal quality,
tha one which looks the best will actually
taste the best" . - ;f :
. How- can these four qualities be en
hanced f How can cigars which are lack
ing In these good points be supplied them?
S Tow can fields which until now have pro
need tobacco used only In the cheapest
of stogies be made to grow tobacco of ex
cellent quality? In order to answer these
and similar questions the young Pennsyl
vania investigator is devoting his time.
The questions are not new ones. They
were raised when Sir Walter Raleigh in
troduced tobacco f to civilisation. But for
a long time attempts at Improving : cigar
quality were hit-and-miss, rnle-of-thumb
affairs. The first of any scientific value
was made by k German, Johann Nessler,
who discovered that potash, which in one
form or another Is the most common base
of commercial fertilizers, favored the burn
ing quality of any material In which It :
wajr present, . while chlorides, or muriates,
as they are ordinarily called (table salt is , .
the muriate of sodium) retarded the burn
ing qualities whenever they were present In
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Why Is a ;Good Cigar?
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1 'CIGAR sKoyld fcav four csr
diaal Tirtues. ' TKe first and
most important is a good burn
that it tha turn must be eren tha
cigar must Hold its firs, ths J ash
should hm coherent and not flaky,
and there must be no charring in
advance of the burn. li
The second point relates to the
.flavor. " This , is important to the
smoker the ; cigar must tickle his
palate. The third essential point
has to do with the aroma which is
the pleasure-giving; quality of the
smoke, not only to the smoker but
, to the bystander. , Even though a
cigar .has a r?ch, smooth, mellow
flavor, it should be classed as a
poor one if it gives off a bouquet
which ' is offensive to all within
range of its fumes
. Finally, , a ' cigar should have a
good appearance. ' Really, it is sur
prising how important this is. No
matter how fine the burn, or how
pleasing the flavor or aroma, a cigar
must look the part in order to be
' good. ' Given two cigars of equal
quality, the - one which looks the
best will actually taste the best.
Cigarelopy of Henry Reiti Kraibtlt
e' the. Univerrttv ..of Chicago, who
would tnak.9 the rewfc cigar good and
the good oigar tetter.
7VS Is the , Strip
1 Test, Under Which
a Treated Leaf of To
bacoo Is Ignited and
the ; Time It Remains
A tight Measured
With a Stop Watch.
tttry H. KraybUl May Be 'Seen Here in His Laboratory in theAct of
-. :(!; - ; Testing Stogies. , . pSfz i 1 5
Since Neasier's time there has been lit
tle disagreement v over j the ; two points
stated above, but if certain- salts will
benefit a tobacco leaf, while others will
harm it, .the vital question is the one of
properly introducing It Into the plant tis
sues. "' : ,. : ' j; - i I .
Use of Potash.! v
"There are three theories today as o
jwhy potash salts will help the burn," says
Mr. Krayblll. MNessIer's theory was that
free potash was formed, in minute quan
tities throughout the tissue of the leaf.
This would aid the burn, of course, since
potassium is about as combustible: as phos
phorus. " '
"Thomas Schloessing, .. on the other
hand,' held to the view that : potash salts
swelled, up inside . the leaf, ; rendering ; it
more porous and light that Is, more'read
Hy combustible, since this would' tend to
form a sort of 'forced draft within, "the
leaf Itself. i- " 1
"Latterly, Dr. W. W. Gardner, 'ead of
the tobacco investigating bureau of the
t'nited States Department of Agriculture,
; has suggested that this beneficial effect of
.potash may he -due to the readiness with
which organic salts of this element form
carbonates,' and of all' the salts carbonates
are the ones which best promote a glow"
If. then, carbonates are the most bene-
ficiaL, why not Introdnce carbonate of pot
ash directly into the plant? There are two
important reasons why this cannot be done:
First, if carbonate of potash be supplied to
a tobacco field, it will not reach the plant
1n the form of a carbonate, since it will
. have undergone too many chemical
-changes on the way; second, carbonate of
. potash is too expensive to make its -use In
i artificial fertilizers a paying proposition.4
The question may well be .asked, If
r all this is already known, what remains to
"be discovered? What, is the work which
Mr. Krayblll is doing?"" He will answer
I the question f or you himself. I !
Many Differing Opinions. , ,
. " . , "In the" first placeV there are so many
points upon which the different investiga
tors have differed, he declares, "that any
work which will help to unify the con
flicting theories cannot help but be of real
practical significance-. Furthermore,' when
we say that, for instance, the sulphates of
potash , are the salts which are the most
inmeflcial : to tobacco .when applied as a:
fertiliser; -we ; mean that they are "the most
beneficial of the salts yet Investigated.
There are any number of other salts whose
effects have . not yet been determined
upon which I am now working. Some of
them have shown wonderful results, too,
but the work has not . yet reached the
stage where I would care to make the re- invest3gate4 under the ghrpowep micro-
sultr'imbHiH-v ' " ' - 2 .seopes, and the differjenies,wjabj record
ed, for each bottle represents a tooacx
plant' grown under different conditions and.
and stray air currents, there He fragments -
of tobacco leaves which! have been! soaked .
In the solutions of various saltar j These
leaves have been, prepared for the, strip'
test Afte,r they have been dried one end
will be thrust into the flame of a fish-tail
flame, and the time during, which the leaf
remains allghwUl -belmeasured In split
seconds "w4tk''stepwacSi'--; j '.
On - a set of wall shelves stand hun
dreds of ; small bottles, each containing
fifty disks cut from the tobacco leaves of a
single tobacco plant wiose ancestry "has
been recorded for generations. The chem
ical composition of these leaves will be
determined their physical nature jwlll be
The view is Mr. Kray bill's laboratory
Is an Interesting one. ' On one large table
stand thirty: br 1 forty inverted Jars, be
neath which, carefully protected from" dust
? coming' from a different
' . - Under a table in a
stock er strain-
corner ' there Is a
Why Plants . Are FastidiousJ About h Fobcl
t t'tIIEN you look at plants and trees do.
VV not think they grow year after year
and send out branches and leaves just to
, kill time. The interior of aplant is a mlnla-
tore chemical factory taking in material
.. from. the air and soil, building up with mar
velous regularity and precision the com-,
plicated 7 substances which determine its
constitution. . ' ' J- -
r -j- The vegetable world uses substantially .
. the " same : foods, but .In - different propor-.
tlois, according : to. lts individual needs.
Each is a . factory, in which are produced
the timber, fibe'rs, sugar, aromatic essences, '
perfumes, healings and sometimes healing
- drugs. The only condition imposed is that
the .raw material shall be supplied In '
soluble for ittl'so- that the -root- hairs can :
convey it, into the systent -' ,y "" '
. No matter how rich pi soli a plant, has
Its food, must be served 1 a digestible and
palatable form to get the1 best results. Fer
tilizers and manures give to the soil and to
the plant In turn the food qualities which
it'lacks. Manures are doing much to
strengthen and to Improve the qualities of
grain. According to' the; laws of , the agri
cultural station it has been established that
In the case of wheat potash gives incressed
vigor and power jto resist damp, drought
and, rusL . Nitrogenous manure Increased
fifteen bushels of wheat Jto twenty-ons.
The addition of nitrogenous manure to
a yield of twenty-one 'bushels raised It to
thirty-five." ' - - " ' ' '
great bundle of "hands' of tobacco, leaves,
just as they cams from the sweating-room.
Bach -hand", or bundle of leaves comes
from a certain field which bss received a
, definite fertiliser treatment, and each, one
has a family tree as accurate as that of a
titled nobleman- These leaves will ' be
. rolled into cigars, each of which must be
soaked and scored according to the four
"cardinal virtues." . ,
: : Avoids the Habit. .
"Oet the smoking habltr says Mr.
KraybllL "Not much I won't. The easiest
way to disgust people with a bablt Is to
force them to continue Its practice. When
J get through day at the laboratory I
feel as though X never want to look at an-
- other cigar as long as I live." ; ....' . '
In judging the flavor of a cigar it; Is
necessary that the taste of the person
Judging be kept at a point where it can
make fine discrjtnlnatloais. This Is hard
; when a largo number of cigars is being
tested, : because the taste becomes cloyed
and blunted rapidly JTo remedy this the
best thing, according .to Mr. , Krayblll, is
to eat a few bites of fresh apple, . ;
Jugt Like Eating Candy. '.
-It s Just. like eating ean.dy.-Js his as
sertion. "Nothing cloys on the palate so
quickly as SFsts. r Md yst, if? yott;wiil
eat a piqkle -after- yoahara becocM i tired
of. fttlaf e)oawl itto4. 7n ?n
enjoy the sweet Jpt asmuchi as a t firt"
4 . Qn one M-bW.IU'-thS laboratory stands
an sutomatic smoker, '..This is us4 in test-
' fog )he hqrnlng. qualities of rlgars, Tbfss
do not have to be smoked by the- same In
dividual, an4 Mr. Krayblll, glad of the re
Jlef, e "signs the workj to - a .r mechan t sin
' jrhicb be hss helped to deyiae. . ,'iX"
In bis sgperimsnu; Which Involve not
only, the treatment of tobacco in tbs fiald
but its handling In the processes of curing
and - sweating,; he has soaked stogies of
.the very poorest quality with vsrlous so
lutlons and greatly, increased their fire
holding capacity "Ropes' wblch . were
only able to hold their Are for 'less than
a mlnotc have been treated so as to re
msltt Slight Inoffensively for : over five
-minutes without deteriorating their flavor.