The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1900-08-03
THE
wisconsin Tobacco Reporter,
Edgerton, Wisconsin.
NOTE BoOK SKETCHES.

The new crop is showing up SO hnely
in most of the growing states that buy
ers in some localities are already dis
posed to contract for the green fields
several weeks in advance of the harvest.
1t is reported that this is especially true
of the Big Flats districts in New York,
while buyers are also said to be looking
with longing eyes on the Connecticut
Valley crop and only waiting to learn
what price the growers are willing to
name. Such trading, however, amounts
to little better than engaging the crops,
and seldom turns out satisfactory to the
farmers, who tie themselves up IN ad-
vance. If all goes we'll and the going
price does not decline, the buyers gener-
ally are willing to take the crop at de-
livery time as agreed, but there are SO
many opportunities open to the dealers
for declining to accept the goods that
the farmer invariably gets the worst end
of such deals made in green tobacco. A
lot of trouble can be avoided by not
naming price until the crop is safely
housed and we'll along in the curing
process.
*x*
The annual report of the Commis-
sioners of Internal Revenue has been
looked for with a good deal of interest
by the tobacco trade. A summary
shows that the total tax receipts from
cigars weighing more that three pounds
per thousand will approximate S19.OOO,-
900, an increase of nearly 100000
over the receipts for 1899, and almost
S5500000 over the receipts for 1898. AS
more than S3,00O,00O of the cigar tax re-
ceipts for the fiscal year 1900 were due to
the increase in rate made by the Span
ish war revenue act, comparison with
the receipts of 1898, during which only
an insignificant quantity of cigars paid
the war revenue tax, shows a gain for
the last fiscal year of 100000; in other
words, the gain in the production of ci
gars in the fiscal year 1900 over the year
1898 would appear to be not far from
750O0OOOO cigars. On the basis of the
receipts for 1899 similar gain will be
shown by the figures for 1900 for the
reason that the increase of the produc
t+ions of 1899 over 1898 in large cigars was
SNe.y tsz.4al. IT Wills thus. be seen that
the cigar industry during the past sraar
fully recovered from the effects of the
war tax and forged ahead in Ia highly
satisfactory manner. 1t should be un-
derstood, of course, that none of the fig
ures given above include the production
of little cigars. The total receipts from
the tax on little cigars during 1900 will
be in the neighborhood of S70OOCO, "a
substantial gain over last year, which
has heretofore been discounted by the
steady growth in the output of this
class of goods. Cigarettes will show a
falling off in revenue very closely ap
proximating the increase in little cigars,
the total receipts from cigarettes being
about 81 100000. Thus there appears to
have been an increase in the production
and consumption of little cigars and ci-
garettes taken together, while the reve-
nues from these sources have remained
practically at a standstill, the explana
ton, of course, being that little cigars
only pay ST per thousand revenue tax,
while cigarettes pay $3.50. The receipts
from manufactured tobacco will aggre-
gate between S33,O00,O00 and S34, 100000,
while the receipts in 1897 amounted to
only S16,440,2O7. The doubling of this
enormous tax in the short space of three
years will cOnsti tute remarkable eX-
hibit of the responsiveness of the great
tobacco industry to the demands made
upon it by grave government crisis
that is unequalled in the history of the
country.