The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-06-09
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

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The warm days have come at last, the
weather most needed to bring along the
plant beds in time for early transplant
ing. There will be no trouble now but
the crop can be transferred to the fields
before the end of June, which in this
latitude is considered early enough, pro-
viding the growers can find time to pre-
pare the ground to receive them. So
much rain has fallen so far this season
that farmers are somewhat behind in
their work and now must labor overtime
until the tobacco is safely pitched in the
fields. The remarkable growth of the
plants of late has put the beds forward
so that most of them will be of size for
transplanting the coming week and
promise to be very large before the set
ting is finished. A few growers have
already started this work and hustling
times are ahead for the rest the coming
few weeks. Transplanting has been
under way in New England and Penn
sylvania for some time past under con-
ditions not very favorable, but these
states are generally from ten days to
two weeks ahead of Wisconsin in this
work. June 15 is early planting in the
west.
***
A decision of direct interest to retail
ers and jobbers generally, by reason of
legislation affecting their business, in
troduced the past year or two in num-
ber of states, has just been handed down
by the supreme court of Massachusetts.
The finding holds that it is not unlawful
for the manufacturer to give reasonable
inducements to his customers for exclu
sive handling of his products. Further
than chat. the court of last resort in the
Commonwealth intimates that statute
forbidding such rebate to secure ex-
elusive handling would be unconstitu
tlonal This decision was rendered in
case entitled Commonwealth VS.. Strause.
It appears that the defendant, travel
ing salesman for the American Tobacco
Co., offered to Plymouth county jobbers
concession of 6 per cent. below estab
lished net prices if they would not han
die the products of any other manufac-
turer. He did not say to his trade in
eject: You cannot buy my goods unless
you will agree not to sell those of other
manufacturers; if you handle like pro-
ducts made by others, you cannot have
any of mine. Strause admitted that he
had proposed special discount on the
condition stated, and made no defense.
He was thereupon convicted in the lower
court, whose decision has now been re-
versed by the highest judicatory of the
state.
TIE work of the department of agri-
culture in attempting to bring up the
standard of New England tobacco by
better seed selection is already giving
good results. Many growers in northern
Connecticut planted their beds this sea-
son with seed taken from the govern
ment experimental farms. An editorial
represer tative of The Homestead has
personally inspected seed beds of sew
eral of these farmers Without excep-
tion plants grown from selected seed ex-
hibited far superior development than
the average run of plants. Prof. A. D.
experimental work with regard to breed
= - -. 1&OI s~
ceedingly optimistic of results therefrom.
This spring he has delivered several
lectures to New England farmers on the
subject. New England Homestead sees
no reason why the department. OF agri-
culture and the state boards of agricul-
ture of Connecticut and Massachusetts,
do not get together and inaugurate a
lecture and practical demonstration cam
paign for the better selection of tobacco
seed and ultimate improvement of the
quality of the crop. Prof Shamel claims
that tobacco seed breeding gives even
greater promise than that of corn. If
this be true, surely all methods of adver
tising the fact to New England tobacco
growers should be employed and be put
in operation at once.
Xxx
Mr. George T. McNess, tobacco ex-
pert of the Bureau of Soils of the De-
partment of Agriculture, has made re-
port to the Secretary of Agriculture on
the result of years experimentation in
the growing of tobacco at Appomatox,
Virginia. These experiments we're con-
Quoted with the view to increasing the
profits on tobacco to the farmers, and OF
demonstrating to them the practicability
of pursuing more modern methods in
the cultivation of the weed. AS is we'll
known, the farmers of the Virginia re-
gions still cling to the old methods of
their ancestors, in that they plant their
crops in hills three feet apart each way,
use ten dollars worth of fertilizer to the
acre. cultivate deeply with double
shovel plow, for all of which they are
able to make profit of only five dolIers
on an acre. The Bureau of Soils was Of
the opinion that these methods were too
primitive to yield successful crops to the
farmer, and with the end in view of
pointing out to the farmers easier and
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