The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1909-05-14
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


bacco before casing is becoming more
and more the practice of Wisconsin
packers, and if results continue satis-
factory this method of treatment seems
likely to be put into quite general use
especially with the filler and B grades
of leaf produced in this state. Most
packers have bulk sweated their short
er grades this season and have succeed
ed in obtaining the best ..B'' stock the
state has produced for some years.
| And it places the goods in readiness for
market SIX months or a year ahead of
the natural sweat leaf and at time,
too, when the market is quite bare of
| leaf of this character. The best de-
mand for some months past is for good
sound filler stock and packers of Wis
consin are getting a good supply ready
to meet it. But the chief advantage of
bulk sweating lies in almost entirely
escaping the loss of damage which has
proven quite serious drawback in the
natural sweat of the leaf the past few
years. While the practice may not
prove quite as desirable In the handling
of binder stock as the good old way of
natural sweating through the summer
months, there is some advantage in
warming up and partially curing before
casing. Packers are finding out that
there is always something to be learned
in the warehouse treatment of tobacco
and nearly every crop has some char
acteristics that demand little different
manipulation than its predecessors. The
Experiments that are continually carried
on lead to larger information regarding
the handling Of the crop each year and
helps eliminate some of the risks that
go along with the business.
-
In a report recently issued by the
government, based on experiments car
ried on regarding the air curing of to-
bacco, considerable information>is to be
obtained that is worth preserving. The
report states that the most favorable
Temperatures are between 60 and 100
degrees F., with relative humidity of
85 per cent. Under these conditions
the leaf will gradually lose water, but
will never be out of case or order and
the curing will proceed smoothly. If
the humidity becomes higher, pole sweat
will develop, while if it falls, the leaf
will dry out too rapidly. When the
leaf begins to turn brown, there is no
longer need for keeping the air in the
barn so moist, and the humidity may
be lowered to about 80 per cent, and
further to 70 or 60, until the stems are
dry. The tobacco should be prevented
from coming into high case after cur
ing until it is to be taken down, and it
should be stripped and packed as soon
as possible after curing. So long as
artificial heat is not used the tempera-
ture will never become too high for
favorable curing, butlit frequently be-
comes so low. as to interfere with the
process. The report regrets that grow
ers have limited means of controlling
the temperature and humidity In the
barn, and says that the present meth
DDS in this process fare the crudest of
all those used in curing because the
grower is almost at the mercy of the
weather. If the season is too dry, the
! tobacco "hays down. that is, dries out
like hay, while if it is too wet, the to-
bacco is damaged by pole sweat. Ad-
| vances have been made in curing in re-
| cent years, but the report says these
consist chiefly in the construction of
better barns, which is only one step IN
the right direction. 1t remains for
some one to work out practical meth
| cd of controlling temperature and hui
| midity in the barn when the weather is
unfavorable Thousands of dollars
| damage to the crop results annually
| from lack of means for maintaining the
proper conditions IN the barn during
curing, and this loss can never be over
come until satisfactory means are pro-
vided for conducting the cure indepen-
IDENTIFY of outside weather conditions.
| While growers are aware of the serious
damage from oole sweat, few appreci-
ate the extent of the injury caused by
| the opposite extreme of excessively dry
weather. This is due to the fact that
| injury from pole sweat is promptly rec
| ognized, since the leaf tissues are dis
Iintegrated, while tobacco which has
/ been dried too rapidly is perfectly
sound, and it's inferior quality is not
fully apparent until after it has been
| fermented when it is likely to be at
| tributed to other causes. Although IN
| this case the value of the leaf is never
entirely destroyed, the report states
| that the damage is more widespread
and of more frequent occurrence, so
! that in the aggregate it probably
amounts to more than that caused by
pole sweat. The average grower, In
his anxiety to avoid pole sweat, is apt
to hasten the first stage of the cure far
too rapidly to secure the best results.
-
The claims of the tobacco trade
against the free admission Of guam
| tity or Philippine cigars and tobacco as
| contained in the Payne-Aldrich tariff
bill now in Congress, were presented to
President Taft at the White House last
week by delegation of tobacco men.
Although they could not induce Mr..
Taft to ask that the provisions of the
bill be modified, they obtained from
him promise that he would sign the
Philippine tariff provision as it came to
him from Congress in whatever shape,
and that if Congress knocked it out, he
would not veto the bill on that score.
The further promise was made by Mr.
Taft that no further concessions for
Philippine cigars and tobacco would be
requested of Congress by him during