The particular qualities required in leaf for this purpose are toughness, sweetness of taste, and a richness in oils and gums. Suitable leaf having been selected the leaf is cut and moulded into small plugs or “chews” which are put up in boxes for the market. Flavoring essences are of course plentifully used.
As well as plug, chewing tobacco may be of the variety known as twist, the leaves being spun and twisted in a continuous roll.
The plug consists of a wrapper and filler like the cigar, the brighter and better grades of leaf being used as wrappers. Burley leaf and the yellow leaf tobacco of Virginia, Kentucky and the Carolinas are principally used. The substances used for flavoring are liquorice, cane sugar, maple sugar, molasses, and rum, principally. The plugs are packed in boxes of 72 lbs. each, and also smaller boxes of 10 and 12 lbs. each.
The principal centers of the manufacture of pipe smoking and chewing tobacco are Missouri (St. Louis); North Carolina (Durham and Winston); Kentucky (Louisville); New Jersey (Jersey City); Virginia (Richmond) and Ohio (Cincinnati).
There are altogether about 400 establishments employing about 20,000 persons, and the value of the product is over 100 million dollars annually.
This class of products is by its nature more suitable for concentration of manufacture than either cigars or cigarettes. Hence the small number of establishments.
Only about 10 million lbs. of manufactured tobacco is exported.
(See [references end of Chapter XV])