In a cigarette making machine, tobacco is arranged to be showered towards two suction bands to form tobacco sub-streams on the respective bands which are then merged to form a single cigarette filler stream which (possibly after trimming) is enclosed in a wrapper web to form a continuous cigarette rod, and the machine includes means for disturbing at least part of the tobacco of at least one of the tobacco sub-streams before the two sub-streams are merged. This disturbance of the sub-streams preferably causes or permits a degree of reorientation of the disturbed tobacco and a degree of interengagement between tobacco particles of the two sub-streams. In one example at least part of this disturbance is caused during the transfer of both sub-streams to a further suction band which carries the merged stream to the wrapper web.