Tobacco Documents Online

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5 BY RC.PSR: N. L1:PI=-S, VICi P°.=S::.c.: :' P!B:.iP MCRR:.S Z`tC. ' CC:'C?.:.'~ 15;5 Tocacco is the oldest, and or.e of the raroes: Are: :ca : ag-:cul:u.-a'_ i:.d::str :es -- u.d yet .:a-y c: the ma::iods of hand:~:g tctacca have been ur.c!*i:bed for decades, and ir. sc=.e cases f-.: Tcscco research is tl:e,ef:r e one of 't: e°:e.c -•-~' -' -e • f. 0 n.-! r3 LDf$ e~ tl ~ l..S ~.e d 1~:LLS L-t S. The etor-I of tocacco resea:-.h can be =iven :.es:, I th:.-: c, after a br:ef rev:ew of the his :o: .r of :`e ir.C::stry ar.d its grcwir.s ar.: p:ocesstec ---s. With that tac;c=row.d, we car. t::en go irto cor.sur research ar.d taste test:.rg, have a look at che-:ca: swcx:: ; and ;h.ys ical research, and the,i touch or the and health cor.troversy. s w:c::.g cf probably the first ahi:e can to see the to:.acco was Cr.r:st:Fher Co:LL:.bus. He had no :dea a: the ti=e how iL.por :ant this plant was to btcc=e to .»e ecor.cm:c growth of southeastern a..erica. At one t_.e tacacco was the standard cur. er.cy of the lar ze ar ea t`e:: called Vi.o:n:z (%rl::c:: once er.ce.m.;.assed the c::y of C.`.:cago). The ahl;.mer.: of totacco to =-:-o;.e by -'e C C.; C F. .. . .. yL 1~ ~ ~. ~~• ,. _~... .: .. . '•~.; . . i~ ~. ~' ' '~,"~~.,i..~..-•~.:.,~...::..' .~.~. ._ . . ..._ . r~c::r~.a~R?L~KL.~~.avi~i :.' ~~l...:.. CTR t 1 H 02-6061

C C -2- CpNFloz 'V?/ early settlers not only provided their aear.s of liveli- hood and growth, but also created a minor revolution in European social customs. Tobacco was acclaimed as of smoking, and changing social customs during the gay twenties mad. it possible for women to smoke cigarettes without losing their reputations. Cigarettes were ra re to stay. Hrom a sales volume of about 2-1/2 billion a medical cure-all by some, and denounced as an undes:rabie habit by otihers. Z7use strong personal feelings about tobacco are not much different today. Tobacco began to achieve its present sales volur.e early in the 20th centur7 with the development of the blended cigarette and of high speed cigarette making machines. Until that ti:e, cigarettes were considered an effemirate article, and tobacco usage was limited almost entirely to real he-men who could handle stror.g cigars and chewing tobacco. The availability, conven- ience and eaorale-boosting effects of cigarettes dur ing World War I overcame the objections of men to this form units in 1900, cigarettes have reached an annual vol~.a of about 400 billion today. The gross dollar vol:..:.e of cigarette sales is now about ;4 billion, of which about c " o 41.5 bil•lion comprises federal taxes and about $0.5 W ~. billion state and local taxes. The federal tax alone •imposes a burden in excesa of the combined costs of the W O O CJ F+ • ` ra-4 tobacco, curing, ageing, and manufacture, includir.Z ed_ti.c_.: , .:. :.,...a.-...,,_.., .,• ,: .. G•r ~~I-.4 MLL~.~ (0 UP HN 026062

C -3- CoNF7'0ENT1AC labor, atiachir.ery, plant aiainterance, suppl:es ar.d :r.terest. The little blue stacp on your pack of cigarettes costs you b cents and the other state and local taxes ars from 1 to 8 cents per package. So you people in the petroleum ind brewi.:g industries aren't the only ones who are groaning about the ratio of tax to unit cost of your products. Since only a sasall traction of this cigarette tax money is plowed back into research, the tax ta;ce is mostlq gravy. The burden of tobacco resea.^:z is carried almost entirely by industry and by a few state agricultural stations In cooperation with the U.S.D.A. C I think you will be interested in seeing how tobacco is grown ar.d sold. The two main types of tobacco raised In this country are bright and bu:lel. Minor types include Maryland, dark fL ed, sun cur ed, American grown Turkish type, cigar tobacco and perique. Cigarette type tobacco, which is by far the greacest in volume, is grown chiefly In the Carol-4-.as, VL g: ::a and Georgit for bright, and In Kentucky and Terr.essee for burley. -~- O American type cigarettes are a blend*of br:=ht, ~ burley, Turkish and Maryland tobaccos in decreas1r.g ~ order. bler.d. As uiany as 30 different gradea may make up the ~ p CJ ~ ` • . . . . J~ ,~.`~~.. i- • CTR HN 0~.. B00-'3

C C ... .r- :...' -4- cONFl~)fN T2:ere are about 600,OCO tobacco farms In the nAL are controlled by spraying and by breeding disease re- sistance into the plants. Most varieties produce United States, with an average planting of 3 acres. The acreage which can be planted by a farmer (and not the yield) is allotted by the federal government. Tr.e allotment which goes with a farm is often important enough to be the prime factor in setting the value of the farm. Over 2-1/2 million persons depend for thei: livelihood on growing tobacco. The seeds are planted in specially prepared beds at the tLz'.e froat danger is past. These beds are covered with cheesecloth to decrease insect int:s:atlon and to give protection to the seedlings. 2he plants arr then set out in the field by machine or by hand. Tobacco plants mature'rather rapidly, and are subject to a number oi' insect pests and diseases. :'hese suckers -- small leaves at the base of the esain leaves, which are removed by hand or prevented by sprayir•g, since they have no sales value and decrease the ability of the plant to produce large, desirable leaves. St is comr.on practice also to remove the flowers from the plant, since they too decrease leaf growth. Dry seasons increase nicotir,e content; nor=l or wet seasons produce less nicotine. The leaves at the 2~a.•. .rl+.r4:..~j~..~i~/.~ny'' r CTR HN 02-6064

C C C / -5- c~NF~~f top of the plant have more nicotine than thcse at t;:e bottom. Generall;/, high nicotine content accoc;.an:es low carbohydrate content. Flue-cured tobacco ls gro.m on relatively poor soil to produce a thin, high quality leaf. Burley is grown on heavier soils with greater fertilizer usage, and produces a thicker leaf. iiarvesting operations differ according to the ty-re of tobacco grown. Bright tobacco is removed frca the stalk one leaf at a time as soon as the leaf begir.a to turn yellow, which will be in June or July in Florida and Georgia, and in August or September in Virginia. The leaves are then arranged in bundles, hung over wooden sticks, and placed in a curing barn. Here the temperature is raised gradually over a period of a few days to a asiximum of about 170'P., using wood- or oil- fired heating units thru flues. This flue-curing ;xocess transforms most of the starch to dextrose, levulose and sucrose, changes the color to a bright yellow, and produces a milder smoke. Burley tobacco is harvested by cutting the entire ~ plant and hanging in a barn until the moi.ature has been 0 reduced to about 12%. The leaves are then removed. ~ GJ O Burley has almost no sugar, and is a strong, flivorf:a, p .. . C,~ highly alkaline smoke. A After the curing operation the far-ser segregates the leaves according to goverr.ment grade (more or less), V • • 1 1 111 02S..P •-/• 61aw•

C C -0- ar.d ties them tnto hands. There may be as aany as 125 grades of bright and 125 grades of burley accord:r.g to area or belt in which the plant rras grown, leaf position oa the stal,'c, color and physical characteristics. The leaves are then brought to a tiarehouse co be auctioned. Each lot of each farners grade, usually between 25 and 500 pounds, is placed on a basket, the baskets arrar.ged in rows, and each basket is g:aded by a governtent inspector. ~This sets the support price. If the basket does not bring 1 cent per pound above this price at auction, the basket goes into the gover^.ment-purchased pool. The auction itself is a fascinatL:g procedure. The auctioneer and buyers from industry walk down the rows of baskets, spendina 6 to 10 seconds per basket making the sale. In this short period the buyer au:,t evaluate the tobacco 'jy sighi, odor and touch and may cor.mit his principal to ttie purchase of several hw.d= ed dollars worth of goods. Surprisingly, tra y very seldca asake a bad purchase. The farmer is paid by the warehouse- rrarn in a few minutes, and the buyer takes over the goods. ` i A large rarehouse cray cover several acres, and as cuch I as 2,000,000 pounds of tobacco with a value of about $1,0C0,000 may char.ge hands in a single day in one ware- -Gr C C O W W houae. ' 0 - V ._ . .. ~.... ',. ~f~~' :'1' . ..+ ~a .. . . , .. ... V' Ti r. [`i i 02-608la.P

C C Custccarily, the next s„ep is stermin3, .rh:ch conp:ises removing the large midrib from the lea:. The enoisture content must be controlled carefully during and after this operation to minimize breakage. Frocessing'etficiency is im;,ortant too, sir•ce stesrad tobacco is worth on the average about 80 cents per pcLr.d. The steras, which comprise about 2G% by weight of the lea:, have almost no comatercial value. r The next processing step is ageing, which comprises storing in hogsheads for 2 to 4 years. Al»ost r.oth:rg is known of the chemiszry of ageing, so there is very little to tell you about ttit. The subjective result is a milder and more flavorful smoke. You .rould easil;r notice the dilference on scoking, but I can't write the equations describing what happens. You can see the ilaportance of this research challenge when you rea:_ze that the induscry has soa•.ethinZ like two billion dol:.a.:s tied up in this process at any given time. The or.ly ones who like this procedure are the bankers. I can asaure you that my depart.:snt is trying to iwprove the situation from our standpoint. At the end of the agei:.g period the tobacco f:rst enters the cia.arette factory, in hog3head3. Fi.-s;, t::e moisture content 1s increased to prevent breakage of the brittle leaf. This ws forrerly done by storage fcr / ::.. . . . • . u-~ .. .. Lv.~•~ r. ...... _ .] -7- , cOA~C-, rV r1q4 C T R- H N 02 ~~0 81t~

-b- CIONFl4E' Nri a few days in a steact soom, but now the process is shorter.ed to minutes by use of an alter rate vac::= ar.d chavZes which take place, or the uniforasicy and effic:ency of the flavoring process. After a storage period which is supposed to eqc.alize the flavor, the cut f iller is again mixed to ir.sure uniformity and made into cigarettes at the rate of abouc 1200 per minute. ElaboraZe statistical quality co,arol assures uniformity of phjsical and some chemical pro- percies, high and uniform quality and economical operat:o :- This involves the selection, weighing and statistical evaluation of tremendous numbers of cigarettes per day. In order to decrease the possibility of error and increase output per inspector, we developed a device, which we have called the Autovar, which automatically C steaming process developed by the Guardite Corporation of Chicago. Thers followa a careful blendir.g of the various grades, ages and types of tobacco to assure a unitorm blend. Everyone sub~ects the l3af io a heat treatment which is claimed as unique by one company, flavors and humectants are added, ar.d the tobacco is cut into shreds to be made into cigarettes. Here is another research field which we are cultivating carefully, for there . are alaost no knowa methods of determining the chemical . feedo a predetermir.ed nu;mber of cigarettes, one eve: j .. :.. . .::.•. •.~.. I CT~ 11N 0" 6-30863