The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1910-12-23
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

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A meeting of the tobacco growers
who have been heretofore connected
with the Society of Equity movement
met at Madison last Wednesday and
Thursday and decided to incorporate an
association to be known as the Farm
ers' Tobacco association on co-opera-
tive basis by operating warehouses for
the members of that organization. The
objects of the association are: The
gathering of information as to the to-
bacco industry generally, especially in
Wisconsin, the best methods of plant
ing, cultivating, harvesting, stripping,
sorting, packing and selling; forward
ing, shipping, transporting, commission
and storage business in so far as the
same may relate to the commodity to-
bacco. The articles also provide for
the building and operation of ware
houses and for buying, selling, ex-
changing and dealing in tobacco. All
Of the information gathered will be
disseminated among the members. The
headquarters of the association will be
at Stoughton. There is no capital
stock and no dividend or pecuniary ben
eft to be declared to the members.
The incorporators are j. H. Townsend,
J. 6. Hanson, Jens Davidson, Otto M.
Olson, Bert Flom and Jacob Asleson.
The plan is to continue business at
various parts of the state after meth
DDS pursued by the Equity society, but
independent of that organization. The
first officers elected by the association
were: President, j. H. Townsend, Cam
bridge; Vice President, J. G. Hanson,
Deerfeld; Secretary, George O. Moen,
Stoughton; Treasurer, Jacob Asleson,
Stoughton; and directors, Bert Ehorn,
Gays Mills; Jens Davidson, Westby;
Judge D. O. Mahoney, Viroqua; A.
Neten, Chippewa Falls, and 0. M. Oh
son, Stoughton.
This association of growers is pre-
cisely on the same footing of the ordi-
nary packer of tobacco. When the
farmer brings his crop to the associa-
4ion he assumes all the speculative
chances of the packer. The cost of
handling, the dangers of damage In the
cure end the expenses of carrying and
selling must be borne by him. Ii the
grower is forehanded enough to be able
to afford such chances, all well and
good, and if he is wise enough to keep
title to his own property until sold
there is no reason why he might not
enjoy the facilities of warehouse han
ding and as reasonable a chance for
securing profit as the average dealer
in tobacco. The mistake of the early
pooling was in surrendering his crop to
other people without having any voice
in the matter of selling it whenever a
favorable opportunity presented itself.
Having failed to force the trade to
pay the scheduled prices for pooled to-
bacco, the Burley society is now turn
ing it's attention towards securing
pledges from Kentucky growers not to
produce a crop in 1911. Combinations
and pools may be formed, but it is
hard to escape the inexorable law of
supply and demand even in the tobacco
trade.
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, In
his official annual report, has the fol-
lowing to say regarding the 1910 to-
bacco crop: 1t has slightly exceeded
the prediction of the record year, 1909,
and it's 967, $50, 600 pounds are 26 per
cent above the average production of
the five preceding years. It's value
will be about $95, 600, 900, or about the
same as that of the crop of 1909, and
fully $40, 600, 900 more than any tobacco
crop antedating that year.
~
What means the present boom in
shade grown Connecticut? What is the
significance of the new life, new en-
terprise and new capital that is being
introduced this year in the New Eng
land tobacco growing business on
scale that is quite unprecedented? Does
it mean that at last, after twelve years
of struggling against great odds and in
the face of many obstacles, science is
bound to triumph over tradition? It is
indicated that hundreds of thousands of
dollars additional capital viii. be invest
ed in the enterprise during the coming
season, and that the amount of shade
grown wrappers to be produced will
exceed anything Of the kind ever at
tempted in the Connecticut Valley. 1t
is whispered by those in close touch
with the buying market that this re-
markahle boom is the logical result of