The laws in force between the U. S. and the Philippine Islands, governing the tariff, provide for the importation annually from the Philippines to the U. S. free of import duties, of cigar wrapper leaf and filler leaf mixed or packed with more than 15 per cent of wrapper leaf, not in excess of 300,000 lbs.; of filler leaf alone not in excess of 1,000,000 lbs.; and manufactured cigars in number not exceeding 150,000,000. The shipping must be direct. As the Philippine leaf is excellent and labor there is cheap, the U. S. smoker is thus enabled to get a very good smoke at a small cost. The full number of cigars allowed at least is imported. In 1913 the importation of Philippine cigars and cheroots to the U. S. was 1,641,832 lbs. valued at $2,296,823. HOME MANUFACTURED CIGARS For the home manufactured cigar trade the leaf used is either imported or home grown. Imported cigar leaf comes principally from Cuba, Dutch East Indies (Sumatra, Java, etc.), Porto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines. Imported Cuban leaf is used both as fillers and wrappers. The U. S. as already stated imports about 26 million lbs. annually. The leaf varies in length from 8" to 18"; is a rich brown color, and its principal characteristic is its fine flavor and aroma, which is unequalled by any other tobacco in the world. The Sumatran leaf is perhaps more important in the U. S. cigar trade than the Cuban leaf. It is used exclusively as wrappers, on account of its fine light brown color, its elastic texture and light weight. The genuine imported leaf is much less in weight than that grown from Sumatran seed in Florida. About 2 lbs. of imported Sumatran leaf will wrap 1,000 cigars. Its length is usually from 14 to 20 inches and the U. S. imports annually about 7 million lbs., valued at about 5 million dollars. The use of Sumatran leaf as a wrapper for home-made cigars has increased remarkably in the last quarter century. In the quinquennium ending 1885 the number of such cigars was 34 millions. In the last quinquennium the number exceeded 2,000 millions. The Sumatran leaf has little aroma or flavor and its value is for appearance only. The average prices paid by the United States for imported cigar leaf in 1914 was: for leaf suitable for cigar making, 127c per lb.; for "other leaf," 50.44c per lb. OTHER IMPORTED CIGAR LEAF Since the introduction of tax-free manufactured cigars from the Philippines the importation of leaf has declined. Mexican leaf is used as a substitute for Cuban, to which it is inferior. The imports of cigar leaf tobacco from Porto Rico and Brazil are relatively unimportant. CIGAR LEAF TOBACCO GROWN IN THE U. S.