Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-09-30
FOR THE NIRGINIAN.
To Manufacturers of Tobacco in North Carolina
and Vii GINA.


\ brother manufacturer of nearly 30 years
experience and who feels deep interest III the
welfare of the craft, hopes that he will be par-
doned for offering few suggestions in reference
To what he believes will be the proper course
hereafter TO be persued To restore business
to more stable footing and to its wonted pros
perity.
In the first place, LET me urge upon YOU the
entire and universal discontinnance Of Winter
work Though this subject has been often
urged heretofore, ms perhaps to appear stale and
trite. yet feellng,as domure aud more impressed
with its importance by rueh succeeding years
experience. must once more invoke for il your
most serious consideration, and if possible your
active and united 60 operation. Ito not deem it
necessary to repeat here all of the facts and mr.
guments heretofore urged npon this subject
Most Of them have doubtless long since become
familiar To every experienced manufactures
from the result of his own lubors. | will there
fore content myself with stating, TINT during
lnrgo experience in the business for nearly 30
years, there have been but two in which have
not only lost money ON the actual cost OF mate
rial and lahor Of winter work, but have generally
found that much of my capital had become
locked up in this ever dangerous and Improbable
description oi work, that when the proper season
dior putting up all good and snte keeping
brands, have almost ever been forced to become
u dependant upon my tactor for means to carry
on my operations, and thereby rendering my self
liable at any moment, 10 become the victim of
sacrhoe,to screen the fin ,ncial weakness, or per
haps, rs Is doubtless sometimes the case, of mcre
caprice ON the part of the fnctor. Whereas.
had ! reserved the capital invested in winter
work until the proper season for putting up good
and safe keeping tobacco, | could almost ever
have done 50 upon my own means, and kept with
i'll my own grasp the full and absolute control of
my tobacco when it reached the hands Of the
faetor. From full and free conversation upon
| this subject had with manufacturers from var-
Gus parts of the country, | find, with very few
exceptions, that my experience is hut that of the
craft generally.
! have almost ever found that tobacco manu-
| tactured during the months of January, Fchrua-
| ry and March, and, may add, not untrcqucntly
| April, has rarely failed to show symptoms of
decay as the intense heats of Summer approach
edhencc sales Of all such descriptions of tobacco
have generally been forced to the utmost extent
that dealers could be induced to purchase, and
often for almost any price that they could be in
duced to give, and the result has been as before
stated,-that II has, with but very rare eNcep-
| tons, resulted in absolute loss upon the cost of
material and labor. But the disaserous effects
of winter work do not stop here. The tobacco
| itself, either i'll first or sec md hands, is rapidly
! fulfilling the mission of decay and thereby grad
ually, though certainly, widening the margin of
| loss TO the former and strengthening the chance
of similar result to the latter and in both eases
| contributing TO burthen the market with ficti
tious show OF large stocks by which illusion, ant
| To the great detrimen If the trade, the conf
! dence of dealers has been often SO shaken as Il
! prevent them from making their usual purchases
fearing, from the delusive appearance given to
stock in his hands 10y the immense mass OF worth
| less trash consisting chiefly of winter woik
! which it contained, that the apparent over
supply would cause decline and thereby visit
| toss upon their inyestment.-whe,i if in truth the
market were thoroughly wnnowed of all such
| worthless stock, 1t would be found that the guam
| tity of really good and merchantable tobacco
would rarely, If ever, exceed the rapidly expand
! ing wants of consumption. Nor is this all The
very existence of large stocks of such tobacco
| almost ever has II tendency to throw u veil OF
suspicion upon all better descriptions of tobacco,
and by creating doubt and hesitation on the part
Of the dealer, more or less inuriously or unustly
| affect their market value.
Up to about the year 1915. all the lower
grades of Virginia and n. Carolina Manufactur.
| ed tobacco readily found markets on the West
and South West, at prices several cents per Id.
higher than could be obtained for similar grades
OF Western tobacco; but since that period the
| Virginia and n. Carolina manufacturers have
been, year after year, putting up large quantities
| of the most inferior and worthless tobacco that
the leaf market would furnish,-indeed, in many
instances, vast amounts of that most worthless Of
| all kinds of leaf, known among those familiar
with the trade "PrimngS," have been put up
| without even undergoing the process OF stem
ming the result of which wild aud widely mis-
taken course has been, that almost every des-
criptica of lower grade Virginia and n. Carolina
| manufactured tobacco is now selling for ns
many cents less per 10. as it formerly sold above
the same class of Western tobacco. II must be