Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-03-31
TOBACCO SITUATION.
Why Loose Dealers Make so Little Differ
ence in Quality.

An esteemed Christian county far
mer, writing to the LEAF-CHRoNI-
Gle on the tobacco situation, throws
out the following hint on the idea OF
"grow less tobacco and make it bet
ter" that we doubt not has much to
do with the production year after to
year of big crops of inferior stuff to
the exclusion of the better grades of
tobacco. He says: "We know that
the farmers of Montgomery, Chris
tian and Logan counties are produ-
'cers of fine tobacco, and it discour-
ages us when in my neighborhood,
and 1 suppose it is the same else
where, we see the loose buyers offer
for the meanest within one cent OF
what they pay for the best crops in
the neighborhood. One OF my neigh
bors had a fine crop which he sold
tied in small hands and delivered in
your city in prizing order for 50 %.
Another neighbor who had mean
crop. as mean as old scratch, nearly
three-fourths Jugs, that he sold, tied
in large hands and in soft order, for
"a IS. / know of numerous crops as
mean as could be that sold for four
cents, nearly as much as the best
brought.
"This does not apply to the purch-
ases of any one man alone, but to all
of them. So long as.the loose buyers
do not make any distinction between
the poor and the good crops, the far
mers don't care about raising fine to-
bacco."
It is true as our esteemed cores
! pendent says, buyers have not made
as much difference in the quality OF
tobacco this season. as the situation
would warrant, but there is a cause
for that, and the buyers are or will
. be the sufferers in the matter. This
is the case of the labOrer who enters
l the Lords vineyard at the eleventh
2 hour and received as much wages as
the man who toiled all the day from
: early morn, for stipulated pay.
There are certain loose dealers who
e are fine judges of tobacco, and are on
the lookout all the while for the best
y crops. They entered the field early
= paying from seven to ten cents fol
the best crops. These figures were
above the views of the majority o
buyers and they held off until the
y fine crops were generally all sold
Then it developed that thu
average yield was not so large
+ as first estimated. This fac
st and the high figures for first sales pu
D considerable back bone in the far n
J ers, and those having interior crop
T. hold up for stiff prices, and dealer
o having already arranged for year
:, business, were stimulated to advanc
=" their views, taking first sales as
basis for operations. The genera
% speculation in tobacco is q very un
:, certain business, and buyers lese a
:, :, often as they make by it. Prices ar
y generally fixed by buyers who Worl
II on large foreign orders for fine goods
- who know precisely Wkat they ar
y. doing, while others buying for tn
= general market take such figures 70
~ their guide, basing their judgmen
:. on the supply and the probable ad
vance.
There is no question that the fal
mers of this section have been ovel
= cropping themselves with tc
- bacco to the neglect of othe
, things, and with all of thei
- efforts to make crop OF fin
" tobacco last year, the product
~ nearly, or quite half, lugs, and unles
{ prices materially advance, loos
- dealers will have a hard time gettin
. out.