The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1899-04-21
THE
Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter,
Edgerton, Wisconsin.
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES.


it is hoped will lead to much more re-
liable crop statistics in the future.
Heretofore the law required the assessors
to gather certain statistics OF the farm
and crops, but the individual tax payer
could do as he pleased about answering
the inquiries of the official and in many
cases absolutely refuse to give the in
formation needed to make them approx
mately accurate The new law however, |
makes it a misdomenor for any person to
neglect or refuse to furnish the informa
tion which the law requires the assessor
to gather and subjects the individual to
fine of from $40 to S25 for such refusal. |
And the assessor is also subject to fine |
| if he neglects his duties in carrying out |
| the provisions of the law. Such whole |
some restriction cannot, we hope, but |
| lead to more authentic returns and pro-
duce crop statistics, thatswhen compiled, |
bear the imprint of greater reliability |
We have. some reason to expect that to-
bacco statistics of the state the coming
season will give us figures more reliable
than we have served our readers here
| tofore.
] The information that comes to us from
Pennsylvania is that the tobacco growers
of that state will largely go back to the
old seed leaf varieties again this season.
Havana seed has not turned out we'll IN
that state the past few crops, while the
growing demand for Seed leaf for filler
purposes, made the latter the much
more profitable to cultivate. Growers
there as elsewhere have come to the con-
clusion that catering to the domestic
filler market yields fully as good returns
as any class of leaf grown. 1t is for this
reason that the writer has before called
attention to the advantages of growing
Cuban tobacco in this state. For some
seasons past the market has been bare
of suitable domestic filler leaf than any
other class of goods and the condition is
likely to continue SO for some years to
come. The oldest man in the trade can
not remember when green Wisconsin
filler would commend such extravagant
prices as they are readily snapped up at
now The demand is not entirely a
speculative one either.
| ***
| An Ohio prophet has worked up
gloomy picture for the tobacco growers
when he says that nature has determined
that there is little hope for good tobac-
co crop this year. And he bases his
opinion on the following reasons.
The freeze is yet in the ground and
seed beds are not made as yet, nor will
they do any good for at least twenty days
to come, should the cool weather abate
and warm weather set in. The frost will
| naturally come to the surface, keeping
the ground cool and damp until the first
of May or later there will be no plants,
from the fact the ground remains cold,
and the seeds lay and rot and will not
sprout as they should. Few farmers
have hot beds, relying mainly on their
plants from beds grown in the woods or
from the burning of brush heap in the
woods made into seed beds. This brings
the frost mentioned to the surface, and
port from Wisconsin, Connecticut, New
Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio and York
State has it that the weather there is
now extremely cold, and the frost is yet
in the groung some four feet deep. 1t
takes six to eight weeks for plants to
come on, and get to the desired size for
transplanting. Reckoning from now till
April Goth to SOW, beds, which should be
| soWn in March, the plants come on June
Goth, allowing one hundred days for the
plant to mature and to be cut, gives the
29th day of September, and frost usu
ally appears on or about the 10th to 10Th
of September.
***
Among the recent rulings of the rev.
| enue department are the following:
AS the result of information received
from a collector in one of the large to-
| bacco-growing States where a league or
company of tobacco growers has been
formed. a ruling of Importance to far
mers and growers has been made. An
| investigation of this company has been
ordered, for the purpose of ascertalning
| whether it has been organized to sell leaf
tobacco owned by it's members; and if it |
is found that the latter have so organ |
ized the Office holds that they must |
| qualify and pay special tax as dealers IN |
leaf tobacco and can only sell their to- |
bacco to other qualified dealers, or to |
manufacturers of tobacco or cigars, or to !
persons who are known to purchase to- |
| bacco in packages for export. 1t is also |
| held that farmer cannot deliver his to- |
| bacco to any other person, Or to COM |
| bination of persons, for the purpose of |
| being resold directly to the consumer; he |
| must sell and deliver his tobacco, and |
| cannot employ others to sell and deliver |
| the same for him. If the tobacco is sold |
by an agent. the farmer or grower must |
| deliver the tobacco directly to the pur-
! chaser.
| In another case it was held that after |
leaf dealer buys tobacco from the far |
mar, which is unpacked and loose, he is |
required to pack it in hogsheads, |
/ cases or bales hefere delivery to another |