The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1904-01-08
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES.

The season is at hand for the usual
opening of the warehouses at the tobac-
co packing points and it finds almost the
entire crop hanging in the curing sheds
and no immediate prospect that ware
house handling can be taken up for some
weeks yet. The absence of casing wealth
er d1ring the fall and early winter is re-
sponsible for the disappointment that
effects all the cigar leaf producing local
tiles. It is rare indeed when similar
weather conditions effect all the tobacco
states alike, but this year none seems to
have been favored with the damp at
mosphere necessary to bring the leaf
into proper case for handling. While
the grower may be chatting under the
conditions which prevent the stripping
of the crop when there is but little other
work to do about the farm, and the
dealer may be anxious to commence
warehouse handling, the real sufferers
are the thousands of men and women
who depend upon the winter employ
ment for the necessities of life. Close
to ten thousand hands find work about
the warehouses in Wisconsin during the
packing season, and an idle winter
means more to them than any other class
of people depending upon the tobacco
business. The delay in starting the to-
bacco handling season for the present at
least, makes pinching times for the lab
oring class, though the loss of wages
may be made up later. The tobacco will
eventually be handled, whether upon
the farms or at the warehouses by
the grower, then there will be less for
the warehouse help to do. At any event
there is destined to be great rush of
tobacco work during the spring months
when the usual labor of season is
crowded into few weeks.
~
While the tobacco men of this state
assembled at banquet short time ago
were very positive in their disapproval
of artificial casing of tobacco in the
sheds, it is none the less fact that
quite good deal of the present crop has
been steamed into case by New England
growers this season. And some of the
leading growers are defending the prac-
tica, too. They claim there has been nc
satisfactory explanation as yet of why
the dampening of hanging tobacco by
means of steam, if carefully done, should
be injurious to the leaf. It would ap
pear that if there is no overheating or
actual spraying of the leaf, the tobacco
should be unmindful of the source of the
fog, and take just as kindly to moisture
coming from a six-horse boiler as to
moisture drifting in from unknown and
.unmanageable banks in the sky.
There is unquestionably well founded
prejudice against all methods of arti-
fetal casing of tobacco, especially among
dealers, and it is the fear that if the
practice of steaming is given any en-
couragement there is certain to be care
lessness on the part of growers, resulting
in damage to the leaf; hence, to be en-
tirely upon the safe side of the PROPOSE
ton, they are dead set against the steam
ing method. But as we started in to
say, prejudice does not answer the argu
ment of the Yankee farmer. A year
hence, perhaps, the New England grower
will be better prepared to give his re-
suits from artificial casing than now, for
it is looked upon generally by tobacco
men as dangerous experiment.
-
A New York packer quite forcibly ex-
presses his opinion of investments in
new tobacco as follows through trade
journal: PERSONALLY do not see where
there is any great incentive for packer
to put his money in the 1908 crops of to-
bacco. I have looked through five states
pretty carefully, but | saw nothing to
excite buying fever in me. Some of
the crops are very poor; others fair; none
fine. It is my opinion that the growers
will be permitted to hold the tobacco
baby this year until it is out of its swad-
ding clothes. If it RECEIVERS from some
of the ills which threaten it now, SO
much the better for the farmers. If it
doesn't, the packer will not be buying
pig in bag"