The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-03-18
WISCONSIN TOBACCO.
ADDRESS Of Thos H. Bigger Before Students Of agrcrl
turai Department State University
Continued from first page.


tural Department State University
CoutiuueaJ1o first page.
as to get one that best suits the trade
means lot of work, but it must be done
if Wisconsin wants to hold her own
Some work is being done along this line
now and it should not be allowed to drop.
The most serious drawback to the
manufacturer who uses Wisconsin is that
it lacks that sameness of quality which
it should have. 1t is hard for the small
manufacturer to get binders that are
near enough alike for him to. keep the
same tasting brand OF cigars before the
public. There is nothing that kills
brand of cigars so quick as to have it
change in taste. The man who has been
smoking certain brand will notice any
change at once. The new box may be
just as good but he won't think so. He
is sure that the manufacturer made them
good until he got the brand to take. and
now he is putting in poor stock. He no
sooner notices this change than he seeks
another "favorite." Only the other day
I was in Detroit cigar factory and the
manager told me he was using Connec-
ticut binder instead of Wisconsin. He
said it cost him more than twice as much
as the Wisconsin, but it was SO much
more uniform that it paid. | asked him
what he thought was the cause of Wis
consin not running more even and he
said, Lack of fertility and too many
poor growers
In every line of business there is
class of men who will only half do their
work. OF course the saying that I'VE
reap as we SOW" applies to this class as
we'll as those who put in the best and
get the best. There are cases, however,
where man not only reaps that which
ne sows himself but also some of the
other fellows as we'll, and know of no
work where this applies more forcibly
than in the tobacco business.
The trade looks upon the different
lots grown here last season as one whole
crop and they call it the 1903 crop of
Wisconsin. There were 10000 acres
grown here by eight to ten thousand
good and poor farmers. Poor crops and
good crops all go to make up the 1903
crop. 1t is case of "the tail goes with
the hide" and when we have year that
experience, push, energy and a deter
mination 70 get the best possible is nee
essary for fair crop there are so many
of the halfway fellows and those who
lack experience that there is too much
tail for the hide. Consequently the hide,
which may be good, has to go at lower
figure.
Some years most anyone can grow
fair crop, but the past 2years have been
wet and many people hung their tobacco
up wet or harvested just after big storms,
NH oil frsn nd ho1 in ioh
case. Many of the growers don't even
care in regard to handling in low case
than one grown in a dry season.
Many people lay the slow movement
the money market, lack of case weather,
etc, but the great cause, in my mind is
the uncertainty of the outcome after it
though in this connection that the lack
OF case weather may prove benefit after
all, for the tobacco is far more apt to go
through the sweat all right than it would
if stripped last fall This uncertainty of
the outcome is due more to the poor
handling than anything else The man
with the good crop has to hold mis- goods
just because of class of growers who
make nothing out of the business them
selves and are in reality public nui-
sance in as far as they effect the tobacco
industry.
The state, the grower and the buyer
should do their utmost to cause the half
way fellow to quit growing and to en-,
courage and educate the man who tries
to get good crop. The new beginner
should study we'll the conditions neces-
sary for success before he goes into
growing. He should remember that not
all the soil here is fit for tobacco and
that it is only when fertilized that any of
it will produce what is wanted He
must not forget that there is no crop
grown here that requires the care and
experience, and while it often pays well,
yet there is chance to lose as we'll.
Many of these detrimental conditions
which have much to do with the success
or lack of success can be removed. The
state should make appropriations each
year to be used in experiments in fertil-
izing, improving the seed, construction
of curing barns, and the printing and
distribution of bulletins on tobacco cul-
ture. Compared with Connecticut and
Massachusetts,, Wisconsin has done very
little to assist the grower to improve his
methods and because of this lack of in
terest the state should be more prompt
to respond to the demands which should
and will be made in the future.