The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1903-03-06

ADDRESS OF j. NJ. ESTES BEFORE WISCON-
SIN TOBACCO DEALERS AND GROWERS
ASSOCIATION.
To everyone who has an abiding faith
in the agricultural possibilities of the
state Of Wisconsin, who believes in the
widest expansion and fullest develop
meet OF our agricultural resources, who
is imbued with spirit of patient investi-
cation in search for the most profitable
products, the best methods of production,
the most harm onious relations with those
who must reckon with the produc er-to
every such individual [ extend cordial
greeting and welcome you to our copven-
tion in the name of nicotiana tobacum.
With its wealth of mineral, its un-
equaled manuf acturing opportunities,
Wisconsin is yet pre- eminently an agri-
cultural state. If you ask me to set the
metes and bounds which shall define its
agricultural limitations, | answer that
such boundaries can exist only in the
imagination. No line may be drawn On
the products Of Wisconsin, not even on
oranges aud bananas. The cold wave of
last week was not suggestive Of fragrant
and yellow laden orange groves Twenty
degrees below zero is not suggestive of
an ideal banana belt But if the severity
Of our climate forbids the successful cul-
tivation Of desirable tropical plants, the
genius of our agriculturists may dis
cover an equivalent.
Tobacco and sugar cane are tropical or
semi tropical plants, yet we grow tobac-
CO from naturalized Cuban seed and
have found an equivalent to sugar cane
in the solution of an equation in which
sugar beetS was the unknown quantity.
Thus by wisely conducted experiment,
by acclimation, by adoption the agricul-
tural possibilities Of our state may be as
measureless and as boundless as is the
enterprise, the push and the thrift Of
our people.
The tobacco industry in Wisconsin has
never received that encouragement, that
recognition which it deserves. Every
other industry has been fostered and
petted and courted. Their infancy was
guarded by paid professionals. The state
| treasury has always stood between them
and adversity Their virtues, whether
real Or imaginary, have been the theme
| for volumes of literature. They have
been exploited at thousands of farmers
| Institutes and recognized and encourag-
ed by Legislative enactment. During all
these years the tobacco industry has
| been regarded with suspicion, has been
| looked upon as an agricultural vagabond
and outcast. Notwithstanding these ad-
verse conditions Wisconsin stands first
| in the production of cigar leaf and ranks
sixth among the tobacco producing
states 10 quality of tobacco grown The
| tobacco plant will flourish and mature
| in all portions Of the United States from
Alaska to Porto Rico. It's class, type or
grade is determined by soil and climate,
| influenced to certain extent by variety.
Names as applied to varieties are mis-
| leading. They are only Of local signifi-
canoe. Variation in content of nicotine,
difference in flavor, texture, color elias
! ticity, strength and body are determined
by latitude and longitude and are not
perpetuated by variety. Ii a variety of
tobacco from one locality be transplant
ed into another it will Immediately ac-
commodate itself to it's new environment
and will rapidly acquire the characteris-
| tics of the tobacco grown in its new
neighborhood
| This transformation that takes place
during the process of acclimation fur
nishes the means of discovering the
! most profitable type which may be pro-
duced in any locality. The imported
| type may be undesirable, the thoroughly
| naturalized sort may be equally unsatis-
| factory, while some of the intermediate
kinds may prove acceptable. This work
calls for patient, persistent and intelli
gent experiment. It demands a greater
expense than the individual grower cares
| to incur, for better opportunities and ap-
| pointments than he can command, for
more time thar he can give. It is mat
| ter which should be referred to our ex-
| pertinent station.
What seed shall we plant, and what
! shall the harvest be? are questions which
must come home to the tobacco planter.
| Next in Importance to the selection of
| seed in the improvement of our tobacco,
is the curing process. This process as at
present practiced is a very simple one.
| 1t consists in hanging the tobacco in
sheds and trusting mainly to luck.
| About three-fourths of the weight of
! the tobacco plant is evaporated while
curing. If an air tight shed be closed,
| this moisture will be retained within the
building, the cured portion of the leaf
will reabsorb it and thus it may be
| brought into case which may be regu-
lated by adjustable ventilation. The OBJ
servant grower knows the value of fire.
quent case weather. It advances curing
and imparts to the leaf sickness and
finish. These conditions can be produc-
ed and the results obtained by the intel
ligent manipulation OF properly con-
Quoted curing shed.
A remedy for shed burn is not SO easily
prescribed nor so readily applied. 1t is
caused from an accumulation of moist
ure deposited from the surrounding at
mosphere or exuded from the leaf. High
temperature and lack of ventilation ag-
gravates the difficulty. Al effectual
remedy would consist in neutralizing or
reversing these conditions. By what pro-
cess shall this be accomplished? Here
again is work for our experiment station.
We have paid millions on account Of our
ignorance in this matter. 1t is d sub
ject which challenges the careful study
Of every progressive tobacco planter.
While some progress has been made
in the culture and curing Of tobacco, yet
that rroCreSC does not fairly cOn1Dare