The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1901-10-11
THE
Wisconsin Tobacco Reporter,
Edgerton, Wisconsin.
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES.

counties have been omitted from Inc
Reporters columns this year for the rea-
son that the drouth at planting time cut
short the intended acreage so that the
assessors figures appeared to us so un-
reliable they were hardly'worth repeat
ing here. The statistics being gathered
before the crop is pitched in the fields,
they indicate the intended acreage rath-
er than the actual. The figures relating
to Rock county show total OF o,24O
acres as what the intended crop would
be. These are decline of l3O acres
from the returns of 1900 and would indi-
cate that the growers of this county are
not disposed to enlarge their fields even
under favorable circumstances. The pro-
longed drouth, however, prevented even
the planting of large proportion of the
fields set aside for tobacco. We believe
it safe estimate to say that not over
one-half the intended crop was harvested
in this county, and possibly 1000 acres
would come nearer the correct figures.
The condition in Dane county, which
usually produces the largest amount of
tobacco in the state, cannot vary much
from those of the adjoining county above
outlined.
A New England grower of experience
e,1r r olx1
corning stripping:
The time for stripping tobacco will
now shortly be at hand and is eagerly
looked forward to by growers, as this
will be the last of the work on the to-
bacco crop for those that sell in bundles.
But being the last it is by no means the
least. Many a fine crop is badly man
aged and made ''unmerchantable" by
careless taking down and bundling. Be-
fore taking down be sure there are no
fat stems whatever, as these surely will
raise mischief if put in the bundles, by
causing canker or heating and staining.
When the stems are all perfectly cured
the tobacco is ready to be taken down.
To do this the grower has to await fav
orable time, that is, a damp, warm tenn
perature. Doors and ventilators should
then all be opened as much as possible,
but taking care that no rain will drive
or the tobacco, keeping always in mind
that the tobacco must be in good order,
but under no circumstances wet. The
best way 70 tell when tobacco is just
right to be taken down, gather handful
of top leaves in your hand, press them
tightly together and if they stick to-
gether after letting them go, the tobacco
is too damp; if they come apart again,
the tobacco is in good shape to take
down, providing the stems are pliable; if
these break easily when bent, the tobac-
CO is too dry. Sometimes tobacco will
become in fine order in an\hour, after re-
fusing persistently for days to become
so. Tobacco on stringing laths can be
piled on the lath on platforms made of
poles in 6 or cornered piles, from to 8
feet high, and if neatly done, with hole
in the center of pile, can be left for
weeks if properly covered with corn
stalks, which make by far the cheapest
and best covering. 1t is always best to
strip tobacco as soon as taken down, for
if left in piles it is mors or less liable to
get damaged by becoming stained by
frozen stalks, by the bottom leaves dying
out or water getting onto it someway.
When stripping it is for the benefit of
the grower to put the bundles up in
neat way, dropping out all rubbish, hav-
ing the leaves all perfectly straight, as
this will help greatly in asserting the
crop By using clean, strong paper,
making the bundles all one size. about
II inches square, weighing about 40 lbs,
not pressing them too hard, tobacco will
easily bring 1 or &c per pound more than
when put up in slovenly, slipshod man
ner, which very often will prevent the
sale altogether. After tobacco is bun
died it is we'll not to put them more than
one deep until it is thoroughly cooled off
when it may be put in compact piles 5
or bundles deep and SO preventing it
from drying.
***
louisville tobacco paper is of the