The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1907-06-28
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


| The transplanting of the tobacco crop
is being prosecuted under generally fav-
| orable conditions. There has been an
abundance of rain to keep the soil in
| moist condition sandwiched with hot
| days that has brought on the plant beds
| with an almost phenomenal growth.
The chief trouble has been that the
plants are coming on faster than the
growers were able to transfer them to
| the fields. The shortage. of farm help
too is handicapping the growers consid-
erable for whole lot of work is being
punched just at time when the days
are not long enough or extra hands to be
secured. In some localities it is simply
impossible to obtain the help needed to
| carry on the work. Those who were
| forehanded enough to have their ground
| fitted in advance have been able to take
advantage of the situation and make
| rapid work in getting out their crop. AS
| is often the case, there is percentage of
growers who have fertilizers yet to haul
| and ground TO plow, but such men are
usually the tail enders of every season.
The most of the growers of small acre
age will have completed their planting
| by the close of the month and with the
ordinary amount of fair weather more
than one-half the crop in all sections
ought to be safely in the fields by that
date. The balance will be about two
weeks late in getting into the fields, and
if anything like an ordinary yield is OBJ
tanned it must come from an exception
an excellent stand, have taken immediate
| root and are looking very promising up
to date.
S. L. Johns of Hanover, Pa, writes of
the prospective and present prospects of
the leaf market as follows
The hope is cherished that there will
be manufactured in the United States
this year 9,000000O00 cigars, of which
| probably 1,000,O00,000 will be made
wholly of imported tobacco. There
should be produced enough tobacco to
| make 8,0O0,000,000 cigars, exclusive of
what is used TOR manufacturing pouch
| tobacco, and the usual export. That
| will easily require the enormous guam
| tity of $4,000 cases. Besides that, we
| usually furnish Canada with about 90
| 600 cases of tobacco, and the export will
consume quantity which can be safely
| estimated at 10000 cases more. While
| the 1906 crop of tobacco was seemingly
| of greatly increased acreage, it was
nevertheless great disappointment as
| to actual pounds that it produced per
acre For instance. in Pennsylvania in
! 1905 the average number of pounds per
acre was about 1910, but in 1906 the av-
| erage production per acre will not aver
| age over 1130 pounds. Similar results
have been ascertained in the states of
| Ohio, Connecticut and New York, in
each of which there was the same de-
crease in pounds produced per acre.
The following estimates of the tobacco
| crop in 1906 WI ce conceded to be fairly
correct: Pen ivania, 78,OO0cs; Con-
necticut, 62,O0Ocs; Ohio, 81,000cs; New
York, including Onondago, Big Flats,
and Tioga county, Pa, 30,00Ocs; Wiscon-
sin, e5,OOOcs; Florida Georgia Gf packed
in cases., 20,000cs- total 356,000cs. De-
| ducting this amount from the $4,000
| cases required to make 8,0O0,OO0,O0O ci-
| gars, we find we have a natural shortage
of $4,000 cases. If we stop for mo-
ment to consider the fact that the out
put of cigars has been doubled in the
| past nine years, and mindful also of our
dismal failure to actually increase the
| production of leaf tobacco in 1906, but
which we we'll know was strenuously at
tempted, my prediction, that under the
| present existing conditions there will be
much greater shortage of tobacco in
| the next twelve months than we have
| already experienced, will be given much
| credence. It is true that there is con-
| siderable 1905 tobacco yet in the hands
| of manufacturers, and some is also held
| by packers and joEbers, but even with
| that reserve to fall back on we cannot
escape the shortage confronting US. Lit
was hoped that the year 1907 would put
| the farmers in a position to raise suf-
! ficient quantity of tobacco to cope with
| the rapidly growind demand, but the
outlook is certainly not now very bright.
| Last year everyone inquired as to what
| caused the apparent scarcity and Gre
ated the high prices, but no exclamation
seemed TO be fully satisfying. | believe
that an intelligent explanation is as fol-
lows: First-The acreage from 1900 to
| 1905 was not increased in the proportion
of the increased sumption. which
multiplied SO rapidly during that period.
| Second The increasing popularity OF
pouch or scrap tobacco drew heavily on
the stock of cigar leaf tobacco. In the
past fifteen months manufacturers Of
the cheaper grades of cigars have looked
| to some of the southern states for an
available supply of both filler and bind
er stock, and had not that, at least tenn
porarily, relief been at hand it would
certainly have driven almost every man
ufacturer of cheap cigars out OF busl-
| ness. Now, however, manufacturers are
| trying to get away from the use OF
1 %1L I'D to,- loo Il I'll