The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-04-14
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

ed up cleaner than any time in the last
ten years, the coming season has more
encouraging prospect for obtaining re-
munerative prices for another crop than
Wisconsin growers have faced for long
time. The market conditions are such
that it would be hard for the tobacco
growers of Wisconsin to produce crop
so large the present year that it would
not be wanted, provided we were favored
with anything like good growing sea-
son. These facts all argue for increas-
ing the acreage this year to highwater
mark. 1t has been long time since all
conditions were so favorable to increas-
ing the area devoted to Wisconsin tobac-
co as they appear to us today. The
grower who can read these signs will not
attempt to curtail his tobacco fields the
present season, but will lay his beds ac-
cordingly. Now is the time to deter
mine the amount of tobacco to be raised
in 1905.
*x*
Numerous farmers are signing con-
tracts with A. j. Beat for the growing of
sugar beets for the GAINESVILLE factory.
In a letter received by Mr.. Beat, the
company makes this statement: "We
wish to say that we have. in all cases,
had the best results from beets grown
on old tobacco land, and we would
advise all growers to plant their
.beets on tobacco ground, If possible. p
Viroqua Republican.
That is just the point. 1t is the to-
bacco fields that have been we'll cult
vated and highly fertilized that the
sugar beet men are after, else why did
they come into Rock and Dane counties
for new recruits when so much of the
state is undeveloped in the beet culture?
But to return to reason, why should any
farmer having good tobacco land want
to surrender it to beets when two crops
at most is the best he can secure and
neither of these will net him as much
cash as tobacco; and the latter crop will
not unfit his land for any succeeding
crop he might wish to grow. The tobac-
co grower better let we'll enough alone.
There is plenty of soil of a clay nature
even in the tobacco sections that is not
suitable for tobacco that provides good
beet crop without encroaching upon the
old and tried tobacco lands.
*xx
That the practice of watering tobacco
when removing it from the poles Injuries
the quality of the leaf has just been
judicially determined in suit tried in
the superior court of Massachusetts, in
an action brought by two New England
growers against Jos. Mayors Sons of
New York. There was no dispute about
the facts, the question being one of law.
In the fall of 1908 defendants agent con-
tracted to buy the crops of the plain
tiffs, that of Hudson for "a cents per
pound and that of Wetherbee for Is
cents, the same to be delivered in good
condition. The plaintiffs gathered and
hung the crops, took them down, using
water to moisten them and rendered
them to the defendants. The defendants
refused to accept the crops on the
ground that they had been injured by
the water. Wetherbee testified that the
use of water did not injure the leaf. The
defendants asked that verdict be en-
tered in their favor. The judge heard
arguments and then ordered the jury to
find verdict for the defendants.
1t is still just trife early to tell def
initely how the tobacco acreage in the
cigar leaf producing states will loom up
this year. However, the season has ad-
vanced sufficiently to enable the New
England Homestead to give general
forecast of probable operations by grow
ers. Primarily it might be stated that
farmers in nearly all of the important
tobacco producing sections OF Ohio, Pen
nsylvania, New York and New England
are viewing tobacco culture with more
kindliness this season than they did dur
ing the spring Of 1904. This is due to
the better scale of prices that has pre-
vailed for the crop harvested last fall.
Undoubtedly New England will embark
in tobacco culture on somewhat larger
scale this season. Here the attitude of
growers toward this important crop is
in marked contrast to the spring of 1904.
Average prices for last years crop in
New England recorded substantial
gain over the preceding year, probably
relatively greater than in many other
parts of the country. From extensive
purchases of fertilizers, as reported by
correspondents, it is likely that the New
England acreage will be enlarged to a
moderate extent.
*x*
Figures showing the magnitude of the
tobacco exports of the Philippines make
it very plain why growers in this coun-
try do not relish the thought of serious
competition with that country. For two
years past the Philippine islands have
been shipping leaf tobacco to all coun
tries at the rate of million and half
pounds monthly. It goes without say
ing that under the encouragement of
free trade or very low tariff, crop pro-
duction in the Philinninns wOuld he ey-