The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-06-15
Great Plymouth Clothing House, Sixth and Nicolet.


cheesecloth covering began to manifest
themselves gloriously. -la ~.
First there was freedom from insects.
Insects are the great bane Of tobacco.
Against them the leaves must be sprayed,
and in Cuba, indeed the growers watch
their plants eternally, night and day, and
pick off the Insects by hand, for they hold
there that spraying Injuries the flavor of
the leaf. But the closed tents kept all In
sects away from the Nicholson tobacco.
Then there was the protection from the
winds. AS tobacco plants grow tall, the
winds, in the open, lash and tear their
leaves, spelling millions Of them; but the
Nicholson tobacco leaves-every single
one Of them remained whole and per-
feet, being shielded completely from all
the winds that blow.
Again there was the proper, humid tenn
perature that the tents maintained of
themselves. The cold of the early spring
nights, which so much retards open grown
tobacco's growth, was not felt under the
cheesecloth. There it was always from 3
to s degrees warmer than out of doors
la continuous tropic climate, with the
moisture so desirable in successful to-
bacco- raising moisture due to the shade
maintained always for the soil.
There was also the modified effect Of the
rain. In the open the rain beats down on
tobacco plants, damaging them, tearing
them, rotting them. But in the tents the
rain sifted thru the cheesecloth in a fine,
warm mist. All the good of it was en-
HANGED an hundredfold; all the evil Of 1t
was quite destroyed.
These tents, in word, united all the
advantages of the open air and of the hot
house. The plants had the hardy vigor. Of
! their outdoor brothers, and at the same
time they had the fneness that a hot
houses protection gives. By the time ear
| ly summer had arrived they had reached
hat hei tO11ohad
the nine-foot roof.
| Men came from all sides to admire them.
! Never had such Sumatra leaves been seen.
They were from 20 to "a inches long, thin,
and Of the best imaginable shape and size
for wrappers since each promised to yield
two full cuts without waste. The secre-
| tary Of agriculture appeared, and could not
praise enough the enterprise of Mr. Mitch
elson. Companies for the growing Of to-
bacco in tents began to form and land be-
gan to be bought, and land values began
to go up amazingly.
| Meanwhile the tobacco was harvested.
| The first trial field of a third of an acre
yielded 700 pounds and sold for $473.70, an
leverage of 68 cents pound. That price
| compared well with the IS cents a pound
| that was being paid at the time for leaf
| grown in the old way.
/ And the tobacco itself compared well
with the tobacco grown in the old way 1t
yielded 1000 pounds to the acre-an I'M
precedented yield-and the leaves were Of
an unprecedented size, an unprecedented
shape and an unprecedented quality. Uni
versally they were admitted to excel the
1 leaves that are grown in Sumatra itself
| Sumatra does with America business
in cigar wrappers that amounts ally
| to $4,000, 900. In Connecticut and in Mas
sachusetts, since a way has been found
to excel the imported crop, they expect
now to take from Sumatra all that bust
ness That is why tents are going up all
i over the Connecticut and Massachusetts
tobacco country-why the quiet green
fields are coming to resemble great aggre-
/ cations Of colossal circuses