The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1905-12-01
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


has been out.generaled in the buying
campaign of the new Wisconsin crop.
With nearly half hundred buyers
under pay waiting for orders and COM
pletely organized, the powers that be-"
permitted the crop to be practically
wiped up before releasing their men.
Over confident there would be plenty of
tobacco to buy after the rush was over,
they like many others, had misconstrued
the condition of the trade, and after
waiting in vain for the rush to subside,
found they had to get into the game or
be shut out entirely. Then the remnants
and left overs could be obtained only by
paying higher prices than the average
cost OF choice selections. Finding itself
squarely up against it, the trusts only
recourse lay in securing as many con-
tracts as local men were willing to part
with at good round advances. Then
ensued lively scramble in the buying
and selling and shifting of these con-
tracts as they passed from hand to hand
until they finally landed in possession of
the American Tobacco Co. Everybody
was thrifty and took cut out of the
deal. 1t is claimed that one large lot was
passed around until the profits amount
ing to five and a half cents over the
original purchase While this may be
overdrawn and far in excess of the usual
profits paid on contracts, it shows sort
of frenzied condition of the trade never
before witnessed in this state. One
thing seems certain if the trust packs
anything like their usual quantity of
Wisconsin leaf this season they must pay
we'll for it-several points above the cost
to other packers. And this is what the
trade is laughing in their sleeves about.
TX
Secretary Taft, in speech at Kansas
City, made an earnest plea in behalf of
the Philippine Islands. He asks for a
postponement of the application of the
coastwise act till 1909, and a reduction
of the tariff on sugar and tobacco from
per cent. to 25 per cent. of the Ding
ley rates, and on other products of the
Philippines, free trade until 1909, when
there shall be complete free trade in the
products of either country. Secretary
Taft admits that the opening of the mar
kets of the United States to the sugar
and tobacco of the Philippines is not
going to bring about any enormous Pc
cuniary benefit to the Philippines as
whole. 1t will, however, stimulate the
sugar and tobacco production to some
extent; but the future of the Philip
pines, in his judgment, lies in the ex-
tended production of Manila hemp, of
which product the Philippines have a
monopoly. Nevertheless, he earnestly
desires to have the proposed legislation
enacted, in order to convince the Philip
mos that the American government is
anxious to do what it can to stimulate
their prosperity. In other words, the
moral effect of the proposed legislation
would be greater than the material ef-
fect but this moral effect is just what is
needed at this time; and the Secretary
holds that it is ''the very quintessence of
selfshness" for the American sugar and
tobacco interests to oppose just meas
ure for the benefit of the PHILIPPINES,
whose relations to US as their trustees
and guardians appeal more strongly on
every consideration of generosity and
justice.
The effect of unfavorable curing
weather on the curing of the different
types of tobacco is a matter of special
Importance to the growers. The pressnt
season has emphasized the necessity for
paying strict attention to the character
of the plants, as respects the size of leaf
and other characteristics and their rela-
tion to the curing conditions. In an un-
favorable season for curing, it is prob
able that the large leaved types are more
subject to injury from pole burn than
the smaller and shorter leaves, under the
same conditions. The large leaves fit
down around the stalk, covering lower
leaves to such an extent that it is diff
cult to get circulation of air which will
cure them properly, even under favor
able conditions. Short round leaves, on
the other hand, allow more chances for
the air to circulate through the spaces
between the plants, and in this way tend
to cure more satisfactorily than the ex-
tremely large types of plants. In the
very large leaves there is more waste, as
a rule, from various causes, than in the
case of the types with smaller leaves.
The smaller leaves have, as rule, small
er and finer veins than the large leaves,
and greater proportion of the leaves is
suitable for cigar wrapper purposes.
Owing to the fact that the large leaves
usually run to long and pointed shapes,
and the shorter leaves TO round shapes,
it is possible to cut more wrapper pro-
portionately from the short and round
than the long and pointed types. The
large leaved types tend 90 produce
greater gross weight per acre, but as
quality and not quantity is the measure
of success in tobacco growing, providing
of course that good average yield is Sc
cured, the most attention should be di-
rected towards the development of types
of tobacco which give the best results
from the manufacturers standpoint. The
shape and size of leaves can be controll-
ed by seed selection, and too much at
tention cannot be given to this matter
before sowing the seed beds next spring.
A medium size of leaf, we'll rounded in
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