The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-08-04


CARDS the acreage, only three localities
report any increase of acreage, while
eight say the acreage is reduced and six
say it will be about the same as last
year. This in brief covers information
that indicates the association can be of
real value to the trade as gatherer of
statistical matters and crop reports.
The folly of hunting game with brass
band is very nearly duplicated by half
hundred or such matter of tobacco
dealers who are chasing one another
over the growing districts of Vernon and
Crawford counties this week. Ostensi
bly, they are looking up the prospects of
the growing crop, but every mothers
son of them has a contract book in his
pocket and we have no doubt that where
a lot gives promise of being harvested in
good condition efforts are being made to
buy it. What can be said of the infu-
enee upon the unsuspecting growers
when they see such horde of tobacco
buyers swoop down upon them like an
army of locusts, madly driving about the
country? Suppose they can be made to
listen to anything like reasonable offers
for their crops? Won't they really form
the opinion that the tobacco men are
crazy and in need of guardians? And
we'll they may. If these dealers really
had any notion of opening the market,
their action has certainly defeated that
purpose and flushed the game. There is
a ludicrous side of the invasion, if not
ridiculous one, that will appear to al
most everyone later on. The writer of
this column has before predicted lively
campaign in the buying of the 1905 crop
but late developments were hardly to be
expected so long ahead of the coming
harvest.
w. S. Pinney of Suffield, Conn, who
cured seven acres of Havana seed tobac
CO last fall by Sumatra methods, name
ly, priming and stringing the leaves on
laths instead of cutting and curing on
the stalk, will make the experiment
again this year. Last years results were
entirely satisfactory. AS compared with
tobacco grown on similar soil, there was
a gain in weight and percentage of
wrappers and a saving in breakage.
The increased cost of the method, aside
from the original outlay for equipment,
which can be used from year to year, is
small. Girls and women can be used to
advantage in stringing the leaves upon
laths, being more deft and handling the
tobacco more carefully than men.
The report of the Department of Agri-
culture for the month of July gives the
corrected figures as follows: New Eng
land, per cent of acreage, 1O2, condition
July l, 81; New York, acreage liz, con-
dition "a; Pennsylvania, acreage 1O2,
condition 95; Wisconsin. acreage "a, con-
dition 81; Ohio, acreage 1O1, condition 93.
It will be seen that of these, the leading
northern cigar leaf regions, New Eng
has the highest per cent OF condition,
also showing slight increase in acreage
over last year. The other sections, while
the acreage is generally maintained, the
increase shows q somewhat lower per-
centage than New England. All sections
show some increase in acreage except
Wisconsin. This corrected report shows
some reduction in the earlier estimates
of acreage, which, it is stated, is due to
undetected errors made while the office
was in charge of an assistant, another
evidence that the management OF some
departments of the crop reporting Sec
ton needs careful supervision.
-
The Anti Cigarette law passed by the
Wisconsin legislature at their recent ses-
sion Seems to be hard nut to crack. In
order to simplify the matter, and make
it so plain that the wayfaring man, even
bayseed legislator, could understand
it, the attorney general of that state has
given out an opinion as to what is legal
and what is not, under the fearfnlly and
wonderfully constructed provisions OF
that peculiar document-N. Y. Leaf.