The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1900-08-10

The long deferred litigation over the
validity of the patent process OF artitic-
tally spotting tobacco has reached con-
clusion in the U. S. circuit court at
Hartford, Conn, and the decision is that
the patents of Richards & Long, of Ohio
is void. Suits were commenced against
Conn, Valley growers two years ago and
the fight was taken into the courts by
the n. E. Tobacco Growers Assn. The
fad of spotting wrappers has apparently
subsidized so the commercial benefits of
the decision are not of SO great mo-
ent as was anticipated when the suits
Vas. .iirst started The following are the
principal points of the decision of Judge
Wallace:
The claims are
l. An improvement i'm the art of treat
ing tobacco leaves, which consists in ap-
plying a combustion promoting agent to
the leaves of a growing plant, substantial
ly as described.
2. An improvement in the art of treat
ing tobacco leaves, which consists in ap-
plying an alkali to the leaves of growing
plants in spots, substantially as described.
3. An improvement in the art of treat
ing tobacco leaves, which consists in ap-
plying mixture of potash and glycerine
to the leaves of growing plant in spots,
substantially as described.
We are of the opinion that neither the
treatment applied by the defendant, nor
| hot Il in tho
has any tendency to promote the burning
quality of the leaf, or to improve it's quail
ity in any respect, and that the only effect,
if not the only object of such treatment,
is to spot the tobacco and counterfeit the
leaf spotted by natural causes.
The notion has long prevailed with
numerous class of smokers that cigars
having spotted wrappers are superior TO
those without them. This notion is a
pure delusion. 1t originated and has been
propagated by the coincidence that much
choice tobacco is spotted, being raised in
localities where this characteristic is i'm
parted by natural causes, although with
out improving or impairing the quality of
the leaf. The Origin of the spots has been
referred to various causes by different
authorities, the most rational explanation
being that in some localities they are
produced by the stings of insects and in
others by the action of the dew. So ex-
tensively has this erroneous notion OBJ
tanned in this country and in Europe
among consumers that for many years
spotted wrappers have commanded con-
siderably higher market price than un-
spotted, and dealers in tobacco, to meet
the demand and obtain the higher price
have been accustomed to spot their leaves
artiticially by spraying them with acids
or chemical mordants.
Until shortly before the patent in suit
was applied for cigar manufacturers and
dealers in tobacco seem to have monopo-
liZed the counterfeiting of spotted to-
bacco, but in course of time the tobacco
growers, seeking to share the illicit profit,
began to spot their crops. So far as ap-
before the date of the application for the
patent in suit, but prior to that date Con
necticut growers were sprinkling their
crops before the tobacco was cured with
solutions of acids. The patentees began
their experiments in Ohio in 1883. They
commenced by spotting leaves that had
been:cut and cured. treating some with
solution of peroxide of hydrogen and
others with a solution of carbonate of
ammonia. In 1894 they spotted a few
growing plants, first using lye and then
Babbitts potash. They observed, so
Mr.. Rickard testifies that latter four or
five hours the plant would seem to recov-
er from it's wilted condition and appar-
emily had absorbed or assimilated the |
material thoroughly within that time
In the summer of 1895 they applied their |
process upon a commercial scale, spot |
ting growing crops for others. In Octo- |
Der, 1895, they made their application
for the patent in suit. |
In their original application they made |
these statements: This invention relates
to the art of treating tobacco leaves
which are employed as wrappers for CT
gars, and it has for it's object to provide
a process for discoloring the leaves in