me forty or fifty years ago
composed of Connecticut seed-leaf, or as it was then called, American
tobacco. The fillers were selected from various kinds of tobacco,
including Virginia, Kentucky, and Spanish, using for a wrapper
Spanish, American or Maryland leaf. At this time the tobacco was not
sorted as now, and was made up into cigars after being stripped, but
the cigars after being manufactured were kept for some time before
they were sold. At this time but little pains comparatively was taken
in their manufacture: they were not assorted or shaded according to
the present standard, and were packed in chestnut instead of cedar
boxes containing from one to five hundred cigars each. A manufacturer
of cigars nearly fifty years ago gives the following account of his
method:
"We selected for wrappers those leaves having white specks
(white rust) upon them, which greatly increased the sale of
the cigars, and which were considered by smokers to be much
better than those not wound with fancy wrappers. After the
cigars were packed in the boxes a little Spanish bean was
grated upon the cigars, or a single bean was placed between
the cigars in the box."
At this time some little taste was
evinced for colors, and cigars of a "bright cinnamon red," and
afterwards, of a dark brown, were considered the finest, while leaf
that was black was considered worthless for wrappers. A kind of cigar
which is distinctly American and which is made to a considerable
extent, is called a seed cigar, and is made from tobacco grown in
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio. These cigars have but
little reputation, and are of inferior quality and manufacture. A very
good cigar, call a "sprig cigar," is made from Havana and Connecticut
seed-leaf filler wound with a seed wrapper which gives a good flavor
similar to clear Havana.

A full flavored cigar like a sip of rare old wine is inspiring to a
lover of the "royal plant" and amid the sublime and companionable
thoughts that its fragrance engenders, one is led oftentimes to
reflect on its rare virtues and the benign effects it produces
wherever known. Thus it lightens the toil of the weary laborer
plodding along the highway of life. The student poring over musty
tomes sees with a clearer perception as its fragrance accompanies him
along the pathway of science and of history. The poet "as those
wreathes up go" sees Helicon's fres