Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-09-04
HOW ITS DONE ELSEWHERE
NEW MANNER o.. uSO~ ma TOBACCO uN-
DER COVER.


DER COVER.
Governmt Mt Officials Inspect the Experimental SyS
ten Which viii be Tried in This City Next Yeal
by r, z. Ro6kW0oi-k is Well Thought OF b,
James wilson, Secretary OF Agriculture.
Vernon = Nunty tobacco growers will
be lnteresit | III a brief Description oI
the system lt unde canvas tobacco rul-
ture now IA vogue ia Counectlcut, when
| will be eXperlmented With next seasun
by Mr. X. E. lockwood, whu recently
purchased a desirable piece of iauu lvlu
-AnanIas Smith tOr The purpose Hon.
| JAMES Wilson, secretary Ut agriculture
III President 4,Aoknley' cabin, y, Iec;, uE.
ly made personal ooserv4Gloh of the
| system in Connecticut Following is y
report OF his views ON the important
! matter:
James Wilson, secretary of agricnl-
tnre paid n visit To The experimental
| growing of tobacco, winch Is being car
rled on IN Tariffyilie. Coma, urder di-
| rection OF the department of agriculture
| Mr.. Wilson was accompanied by f.
| Stevens Henry ranking menbsr Oh the
house committee on agriculture, and 10y
| Prof. Milton L. Whitney, chief OF the
culture.
/ Ihe visitors We're shown reports of
| the cost of putting up the frames for
under,> over growing III Tariifville, Saf-
| field I1ne Meadow. Marbledale and
Poquonock, as we'll as data relating TO
| the conditions OF planting and the way
| the crop had made It's start The party
proceeded to the fields under cover, and
/ -
those heat holding shelters, wlth the
thermC meter hign enough outside. They
stood the tropical climate bravely, how
ever, III the cause of srience. and made
! a careful examination of the framework,
marner OF attaching the cloth and other
| details, as well as the appearance of the
a.; Gobacco plants. The shelter is high
I enough to allow the driving of carriages
under the cheeseclOth. The temperature
was ten degrees higher than outside.
The poles used are chestnut, are twelve
| feet lorg and put in the ground three
( feet leaving nine feet projecting. The
cloth which is heavy ch eeseclotb, came
| i'll width of sixteen aad . half feet,
and is attached to scanthDgs or stringers
| both ways, forming the roof. The heav
| ier cheesecloth is believed to be more
I
| thrifty appearance of the plants i..,.e.t
cover is ascrihed TO the use of this clolh.
Secretary Wilson made close inquiry
in regard to the cost of putting up the
frame, and was told that it was not
more than $500 or $340 per acre for every
| thing, the posts, cloth and labor. The
detailed prices of the material are as
| follows considering the lumber is cut
/ In %
/ poles at 10 cents, $40 90, 1000 feet of
stringers at $40 thousand. $50; total
cost of poles and stringers per acre.
$39 90 If the lumbe. ias to be bought
! outright the cost would be about twice
| this amount, of $50 90 TO this must be
added possibly $l5 or geo for the base
boards. 1t is expected that the chestnut
poles viii last for ten years The cost
of the cloth will be between $3.50 and
/ $lS5 per acre and some of the farmers
will be able TO pit up theit f,sines and
everything complete for $2t;t o. $500; but
1925 il given as the outside price
The covering more than paid For it.
self in protecting the bobacco from a
| recent hail storm, when the stones were
| very large The tobacco Is as high as a
| mans head the leaves running about
| % inches in length. Il vas noticeable
| that the leaf was much thinner than
that of any Sumatra grown out of doors
| in Connecticut, and it was estimated by
the experts that the tobacco would show
150 leaves to the pound instead of 50 TO
10, az the ordinary Connecticut grown
tobacco produces Mr. Haas made the
offer in Mr. Wilson presence of so cents
a pound for the crop as it was which
was promptly declined by the owner,
who said that this price would pay him
slight profit over all expenditures, but
that he hoped TO obtain much higher
price when the crop was cured.
Iu conversation Secretary Wilson said
that he was more than ever convinced
by what he had seen that his prediction
made in his report to congress last Dec
ember would be carried out, that the
United States would be able to prnduct
40, 900 bales of Srmatra wrapper tobacco
which are now imported from the island
and that the S6, 900, 900 annually paid Il
the Dutch would go to American pro
ducers. The acreage required to pro
duce this amount OF tobacco would no
be more than 5,VvO acres The growinl
of Sumatra leaf in Connecticut is in di
rect line with the policy adopted b,
Secretary Wilson for the work of tn,
department of agriculture, that is, tina
the department shall invest in sucl
branches of farming aud forestry AS viii
enable the United States TO produc
within it's borders all the food and othe
agricultural products that it consumes