The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-12-18


Dor and so complete the hogsheads.
1t is said that old tobacco does not meet
with ready sale and that preference is
given to the new This is true but only
for the reason that old tobacco has dried
out and is hard to work while new to-
bacco is in good condition. This applies.
however,, to packed tobacco whether stow
ed in the barn at home or in the ware
house in Baltimore But tobacco, espe-
cially the lower grades, materially inn
prove in the condition bulk After being
there for time the color e .omes i'm
proved, the texture lighter, aud the smell
sweet. True it becomes perfectly dry in
time, and in this state does not show as
well as it does when in condition, but
when re conditioned and packed and of
better price than it would have done had
it been marketed early.
Formerly one thousand pounds of to-
bacco were usually packed in hogshead
and much more at times. Experience,
however, has shown that such heavy
packing Injuries the tobacco by bruising it,
and consequently the buyers on the Bal
timOre mraket have adopted rule that
they will not buy hogshead over eight
hundred pounds The finer tobaccos are
hart more than the common by heavy
picking, for the reason that they are light
er in weight and Il larger bulk is required
to make Il given number of pounds but
the lower grades are likewise injured by
it. Mr.. Martin one of the largest buyers
of tobacco on the Baltimore market, says
that it is the experience of all persons who
hold tobacco and open it after an interval
of from four to six months that lightly
packed hogShead is very much better than
a heavily packed one. the latter having
darkened and become hard that it
shows badly. Otherwise it would be to
the advantage of the shipper to have
hogShead packed AS heavily as possible
because of the saving of expense. for
freight and other charges are calculated
per h"gshead and not per pound. Never
theless. the manufacturers of Europe pre-
fer to pay the greater charges involved in
buying hogsheads not heavily packed be-
cause the results as to quality are more
satisfactory. He also mentioned one Gus
toner of his to whom he sent two lots of
tobacco, each consisting of twenty-five
hogsheads, and one lot being much heav
Ter than the other. When the customer
received the invoice he wrote back ex
pressing the wish that in the future heavi-
ly packed hogsheads should be sent to him
owing to the lessened charges. but subse-
quently, after receiving and opening both
lots, he wrote Il SEQ ID letter slyiny til. t
although the tocacco in the heavily packed
hogsheads cost. in Germany half a pfening
per pound less than that in the hogSheadS
lightly packed still he would rather Ia e
the latter at the difference. This was
CONN GA tobacco. Another customer
for fine tobacco wrote not to send him a
hogshead of fine tobacco weighing over
six hundred and fifty pounds. rne law at
present, regulating the size of the hogs
heads in which Maryland tobacco can be
packed prescribes one not exceeding fifty
four inches in the length of the stave and
not exceeding forty-siX inches across the
head Many of oar farmers will find upon
examination tn 1t the cask used by them is
smaller than the size allowed by law. and
should be made larger. Moreover. Il pack
er should not be guessing as to the number
of pounds he is putting into hogshead but
should know accurately, and this can be eff
fected by the use of platform scales upon
which each filled cask of a set can be
weighed, proper deduction being made for
the weight of the empty cask previously as
certained. From what has been said con-
corning the Improvement or deterioration
of tobacco in the hUgshead, the Importance
of thorough conditioning becomes mani
fest for this change will be greater or less
according to the condition of the tobacco
when packed. Much injury has been done
by rushing new tobacco into market, for it
cannot then be at its best, and will not
bring the highest price. the subsequent i'm
proyement, if any, being at the cost of the
farmer, and the deterioration, if any, at the
cost of the buyer who becomes dissatisfied
with Il trade of such possibilities. The
method of conditioning followed by one of
tl, lo,t h., ,rfx ~,
his tobacco, as soon as stripped, in wind
row or two course bulk, lightly weighted.
in order to give the proper set to the leaves
of the bundles. After short time this to-
bacco was strung on sticks and hung up to
thoroughly dry out. One or two winds did
this Then when season came, and the
leaves were supple and the heads stiff, the
tobacco was put down in large condition
bulk, and heavily weighted where it re-
manned until the fermentation was over
and the smell sweet In packing each bun
die was handled. and that which was either
too high or too dry was brought INTO proper
order before being put into the cask.
Finally when crop is sent to Baltimore
to be sold the planter should go there him
self and see it opened and sold. He should
seek criticism of his tobacco from the buy
err and the commission merchant. and
learning the mistakes he has made, avoid
them in the future Moreover he should
inform himself of the wants of the buyer,
which are based on the wants of the con-
sumer, and bend ali his energies to meet
them. The planter grows tobacco for the
money that is in it, and he wants to get all
out of it that he can. Common sense. there
fore, dictates that he shall learn the desires
of mis- customers, and conform his crop to
them. thereby making it saleable. BY so
doing our tobacco trade will become, each
year, more firmly established; and the pro-
duction of Maryland tobacco will be in
creased to the profit Of our people and the
satisfaction of the smokers of the world.
Mr.. Robinson then told of an instance
which came under his personal knowledge
while inspector of tobacco. A planter
sent to Baltimore hogshead of tobacco
weighing 1850 lbs but it was so mixed that
he was offered only &c per h. At the sug-
gastion of the inspector this tobacco was
assorted and put into two hogsheads
which sold at once at the rate of lac per 10
for 700 lbs and &c for $50 lbs. In this
way the planter gained *4o over the price
he would have received for his hogshead
had it been sold in its origi nal condition.
Prof. Robinson offered to finish a COM
plete tobacco fertilizer sufficient for one
quarter of an acre of land to reliable plan
ter who should be selected by the county
committee upon the condition that he
shall furnish a report upon the result OF
the application of said fertilizer to be read
at the next county Institute. The object
of this test would be to determine exactly
what elements of fertilization will pro
duce the best results n It only upon the
tobacco but also upon the subsequent
crops of grain and grass. He said the
quality OF tobacco depends both upon the
color and texture, and by the intelligent
use of fertilizers conditions might be pro-
duced whereby the culture of the finest
grades of tobacco would be possible.
There arc men in all the counties of
Southern Maryland who always get the
highest market prices for their tobacco;