Litchfield enquirer., 1873-12-04

men at Ieast. The association, the fame of which has gone out in all the towns Of the valley, have appointed an agent, in whose hands are placed the samples of. each mans tobacco, along with the price he demands for It, and no one is allowed to sell without the agents consent and approval. The average price asked by the members for their "A tobacco is 40. 10 and 2, 8 demand which make the spec, uiator shrug his shoulders and smile in- creduiously as he hopes they may get it. So far as we can learn, the association has not yet proved particularly successful Tn dlsposlng of it's wares, and the farmers or other tows view the experiment rather skeptically, and prophecy it's failure. These down in Connecticut point to aim liar association, started at Hartford. some years since. but which ignominously col lapsed, owing to the lack of coherency among 1t members. Still, it does seem as ii the farmers might make something of the kind work, and thus save to them selves the commission now absorbed by the local buyers. One intelligent buyer, who has been in the business for a num- Der of years, and who is fully aware of how incompetent the average farmer is to classify his tobacco and know it's real worth, suggests the following: The building of common warehouses in towns where much tobacco is grown and putting them in charge of competent agents. thoroughly versed in the myste- ries of the weed. To these warehouses should be brought each mans tobacco for careful sorting and casing, leaving the question of the price to be demanded for 1t to the superior judgment of the agent. Farmers who case their own tobacco are apt to do 1t in such slovenly manner as to detract materially from the value of it, and the casing of the professional packer gls 9AlHsFHFfps6bGG fps6bGGSd more in tlis *k market tfan the ll-sorted lots of the farmer. The. manufacturers within the past two or. three years have bought from the farmers direct, more than ever before, but the drawbacks to the customs becoming uni versal are several. In the first place, where the cigar-maker's stock is obtained from the warehouse of middle-men, he has the power of selecting just, and only, what he wants, with the privilege of re- turning portion if it is more than is wanted, and if it doesn't prove just what 1t was sampled to be, while there is the advantage of buying on time, an item of considerable importance to the small man ufacturer. In purchasing of the farmer, however, the ready cash is generally re- quired, and the buyer must take the whole crop or none, when as like as not but a small portion of it is fit for his particular use.
 BUT THE PRINCIPAL LESSON of the whole present situation IS this: That there should be more vigorous striving to attain higher average quality of tobacco, o,-this to be accomplished by restricting the area of ground planted, and it's more scrupulous culture and enrich ment. A high grade of tobacco will al- ways be saleable, and at good price. The universal greed for quantity rath- CT than quality that has prevailed of late years has resulted, to considerable degree, i'll the deterioration of my formely unrivaled seed-leaf. At our best we can beat the world, so far as wrappers are con- cerned; much lower than that, we aie re- duced to rivalry with the yearly fncreas- ing and quality-improving growths of the western and middle states An agricult- ural college professor would suggest that 1t were we'll if more scientific culture could prevail If farmers could but un- derstand little more of the chemistry of their soils and know just what applica- tions they require in the way of manures, whether little lime to improve the burning qualities of the tobacco, or some form of potash or other constituent not supplied in sufficient quantities, either by the patent fertilizers in vogue, or the barn-yard manure heap. AS to patent fer tiliZers, their merits have been pretty thoroughly tested, and the general verdict seems to be against them. Some of them, like fish guano for instance, have proved positively detrimental, encouraging per haps rank growth, but at the expense of many of those evanescent qualities that go to make g perfect leaf. Barn-yard ma nure, and horse-manure in particular, has pretty generally come to be considered the best possible stimulant; and perhaps it is owing to the generous use of this lat ter that the tobacco raised in the Wind sors and East Hartford, Ct.. have their repute of superior excellence. The Con- necticut farmers draw heavily on the New York stables, but added to the advantage of a liberal supply of this kind of ofmanure, which are probably trife more favorable
 
 river towns of Massachusetts tobacco acres, in Connecticut the average per farm is considerably smaller. and this argues greater care and attention in the culture As to the kinds of tobacco, there seems to be much variety, divided in a general way between the broad leaf and narrow leaf. In some localities, noticeably at Westfeld in this neighorhood, tobacco from Havana seed has been raised with good success. The plants are much small CT than those of the seed-leaf, but they can be grown thicker, and the yield per acre frequently reaches 1500 pounds or more, while. according to Westfeld manufacturer, the product is always worth at least 10 cents pound more in the market than the other. It loses its pecul- jar qualities in few years, however, and approximates nearer with each succeed ing year to that of the common kind; but still, the change of seed is considered beneficial. -.a9' f
 ANOTHER LESSON NCULcATED
 is that of more diversified agriculture. Tobacco should be sole king no longer, and many of those who have put their eggs all in one basket, to use homely phrase, are beginning to feel how risky it is. Some farmers, however, thoroughly imbued with the one-crop idea. declare that be- cause tobacco is down, now, is no reason why they should desert it for anything else, but shrewdly anticipating the effects of the panic upon less loyal ones, will doubtless plant as much as ever, another year. The probable effect of the present glut and stagnation will be to 1op of 8 good many, of the smaller growers, not thoroughly fitted up for the business, = for a year or two, at least, while the larger cultivators, with all the appliances at hand, will continue in it, but on q more limited scale. According to the testimony of both farmers and buyers, tobacco can be raised at fair profit for from 12 to 15 cents a nonnd and this