The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1908-05-08
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

EdcherS nanQllng La6 15Uf crop are
| almost unanimous in their report that
| the crop is yielding lighter than any
| previous one in some years past. The
average yield Of tobacco delivered does
| not much exceed 1000 pounds per acre
| the state over, which must be taken into
| account when making up the estimate
| of the Wisconsin crop. Taking this fact
into consideration, it is doubtful il over
80 to 81 million pounds will be marketed
OF the 1907 growth. Another fact that
| ought not to be lost sight OF is that
larger share of the crop has gone out OF
| the state in bundles to the scrap manu-
faeturers, stemmeries, the stogie factor
les, or loosely packed for export than
ever before. A season of cheap tobacco
has been great boon to these interests
and they have loaded up with larger
stocks of Wisconsin leaf than ever be-
| fore IL the history of our state. That
portion OF the crop which it is designed
to reach the manufG 8urer without being
cased is estimated at 40 per cent of the
entire growth, leaving somewhere from
10000 to $4,000 cases to be packed in
the usual way in the warehouses. Then
deduct the amount packed by the larger
cigar manufacturing concerns, it can
readily be figured out that there will be
| less of the '07 Wisconsin crop to supply
the binder trade than any time within
the past ten years. This is the condi-
tion the trade will wake up to sooner or
later.
1t is admitted, however. that the great
bulk of the leaf sent out of the state un
packed is largely of low grade type
and hardly suitable for the needs OF the
domestic manufacturer. In year where
SO large percentage runs to this class
of leaf, the opening has been fortunate
one as it takes out of the reckoning
stock that might be menace to the op-
portunity for securing better figures for
binder stock even when low prices pre-
vail. As result of brisk market for
low grade stuff the state promises to be
pretty we'll cleaned of the '07 crop and it
will be out of the way before another
crop can be made ready for market 1t
osn then in noWise interfere with some
thing more desirable, ard we hope val
liable, which growers may produce the
coming season.
Manufacturers have been buying raw
supplies of domestic leaf most gingerly
for many months past, and it is thought
| that majority of them are running on
| comparatively light stocks. If this bel
| true it will probably assure steady ii
not aggressive demand for cased leaf be-
| tween now and the advent of another
crop. Allowing for the shrinkage in
production, above alluded to, it is likely
| that the cigar output OF the United
| States during the fiscal year 1907 8,
| which has two months more to run, will
| be in the neighborhood of 8,500,O0OOOO
| This would show annual consumption at
the rate of approximately 100 cigars per
! capita against consumption of 70 per
capita some ten or fifteen years ago.
Studying figures of production as pre-
sented, it is noted that the available
supply of cigar leaf tobacco in the
| United States after the harvest of last
| year was approximately 173O0OO0O lbs.
| This is about 100000 lbs. less than the
available supply for consumption IN
| 1867. The Homestead believes that
| the toba eco manufacturing industry of
| the country will find itself agreeably dis
/ appointed in that there are more good,
| workable wrappers and binders in the
1907 crop than is generally accredited.
/! However even should some be willing
| to accept the buyers statements as near
| truth, it would augur material short
age in the cased supply of desirable to
bacco throughout the country, and thus
whet the appetite of the trade for good
crop in 1908.-N. e. Homestead.
*4*
| At the beginning of last October our
country was struck by one of the sever
est financial panics on record. And
though our disrupted money market
easied up at the end of three months
| and the stability of our quaking fnan-
cial institutionsThas been fully restored,
| the industries of the country and par
ticularly our tobacco industries, seem to
be still held in the throes of depression
in consequence of the outbreak of the
panic six. lnonths ago. The official
stamp returns for the month of March
| being just in, we have compiled for the
instruction of our readers the statistics
of the tangible losses our trade indus
tries have suffered Ia the SIX months
October /, 1907, to March 81, 1905. These
losses are: A decrease IN the output OF
large cigars amounting to 1876, $50; a.
decrease in the output OF little cigars
| amounting to 100,908. .945; a decrease in
| the output of cigarettes amounting to
S,106,872; a decrease in the output of
manufactured tobacco amounting to
1O,607, 1872 pounds The worst hit by the
panic was evidently our large cigar in
dustry. For its decrease in the six panic
months wiped out not only completely
its entire increase of 315, 1886. $40 during
the full fiscal year of I906-l907, but
! added to it a further loss of about one
/ hundred and seventy three millions
Brighter prospects are visible, however,
/ particularly in the other branches of our
| tobacco industries In manufactured
tobacco the largest loss occurred in the
month of November. December also