The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-08-12
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

IL NOTE BOOK SKETCHES !.
:.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
The absence of the usual amount of
rainfall the past month over quite
large portion of the tobacco growing ter
ritory of the state has very seriously i'm
paired the present prospects of the crop.
What at the close of the planting season
had an even growth and almost perfect
stand upon the fields has since, owing to
the effect of the drouth on the different
soils, become uneven in size and so vary
ing in quality that growers are disap-
pointed in the outlook. To secure a sat
isfacto1y tobacco crop it seems almost
accessory that there be fair distribu-
ton of moisture during the month of
July. Without this steady, uniform
growth and an early harvest can scarcely
be expected. Should rains come now to
relieve the parched condition of the
ground, unless they be followed by warm
weather, the conditions would not i'm
prove. The weather of the week has
been too cold, and even in the sections
where rain has fallen the crop is not
making the progress it should. The
temperature sank SO dangerously near
the frost mark several nights during the
week that growers began to fear repe-
tition of last season. There is no dis
guising the fact that the prospects of the
present tobacco crop have declined many
points the past two weeks. It is not
alone the tobacco, but corn, sugar beets
and all other products are under the
same shadow.
*
The effect of climate on plant life
brings many interesting things to light.
Many Of the plants most valuable to man
reach their highest development and
bring forth their largest yields in our
northern climates These same plants,
too, that are SO highly valued, are with
scarcely an exception not Indigenous to
these cold regions, but have been intro
duced from some milder climate. A good
yield of corn, for instance, in the south
ern states is estimated at twenty to
twenty-five bushels per acre, while an
average yield would probably be about
| seventeen bushels. An average yield of
corn in the upper Atlantic states may
safely be put at thirty bushels per acre,
! while many yields of seventy five to 100
| bushels are reported every season. Ca
madam oates yield more and are of bet
for tH hoy nt re- IN,
this country, and from them nearly all
our best brands of oatmeal are made.
Northern grown grains invariably weigh
| more to the bushel than southern, and
| the oats of Scotland are ten to fourteen
pounds heavier to the bushel than the
| legal weight here. The wheat of our
cooler climates, while it may not yield
| more to the acre than the southern win
| ter wheats, is far more valuable from the
| millers standpoint. Climate affects the
composition of plants in SO many ways it
will be impossible to enumerate many Of
chem here. 1t may be stated as gen.
eral rule that northern climates are more
| favorable to the production of larger
| per cent of sugar in the plant than
southern climates. Good examples of
| this truth may be had in the sugar beet,
and in sorghum, both of which contain
larger percentages of sugar at the north
ern limits of their growth than they do
| in the south. While the finest flavors of
fruits are not always produced in the
cooler, more northerly climates, because
| flavor is to a certain extent dependent
upon the season and the amount of sun
shine, yet the fruits of the northeast,
north and northwest sections of this
country, and of the fruit growing dis
trlcts of Canada are, as rule, more del
icately favored than the larger. coarser
| fruits of the southern states. The COM
position of wheat is affected very mark
edly by climate. Charles Darwin stated
years ago that the nitrogen content Of
wheat was increased the farther north it
was grown, and we know today that no.
where liz the world is wheat grown with
composition so nearly perfect for bread
| making as in the Red River and Sas-
katchewan valleys.
~
The preliminary report of the commits
sioner of internal revenue for the fiscal
year ending June 80, 1904, was made
public and presents an interesting eXhib-
it for the tobacco trade, as we'll as with
reference to the general finances of the
country The receipts from all sources
for the year aggregated 1922, 2,904,OO4, be-
ing an increase of 50, ,163079 over the fis-
cal year ending June 80, 1903. The total
receipts from tobacco during the fiscal
year 1904 amounted to S44 655 8O8, as
compared with 1854, $40 in 1908 an in
crease of S1,14O,999. This is notable
showing for the tobacco industry. While
the gross receipts from tobacco for the
year 1904 constituted only about twenty
per cent of the receipts from all sources,
the increase from tobacco alone amount
ed to more than fifty per cent of the
total increase. When it is borne in mind
that the other sources of revenue Include
distilled spirits, fermented liquors, oleo-
marparina ato the healthy growth of