The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-22
Two Thousand Acres to Be Planted in the COnnecti- cut Valley As Against 500
 Last Year.
DEALERS AT LAST
 BECOMING GROWERS
How Shade Grown Has Be- come Popular Law of Supply and Demand Elk plains New Departure in Tobacco Culture.
Hartford Courant.)


 section will be devoted to the culture of the shade-grown article this year according to the estimate of Marcus l.. Floyd of Tariffville. general man ager for the Connecticut Tobacco Cor poration. If MT. Floyd's figures are reached-and reports which the Cour- ant has Received from various towns indicate that they will be-the increase in acreage will be about 1.5OO acres. or a gain of practically 300 Der cent. over the 800 acres devoted in 1910 to raising shade-grown tobacco. Ac, cordinE to MT. Floyd, while 1911 will be the banner year in point of amount of tobacco raised under cloth. 1t Will have to take second place by decld- ed majority in 1912. as there are those who have embarked m the ousinsss ness here this year in a small way: who have come prepared to do big things ; next year. provided the 1911 results are satisfactory. of which there seems . little reason to doubt. as the situation is described in the views taken by the of MT. Floyd. feel that the raising of shade-grown tobacco has advanced be- yond the experimental stage.
 Mir. Floyd. in referring to the great popularity of Connecticut shade it's ability to make inroads even across the water. and to the other tobacco used for the same purpose raised Tn fhis State, the Connecticut broadleaf and the Connecticut Havana seed grown in the open field and picked on as 1t ripens (the three kinds most popular for wrappers) expressed the conviction that Connecticut had a great opportunity in this line of agr1- culture, the best it had ever had. If used wisely by the tobacco growers. grown tobacco movement in this State. making experiments at Poquonnock as far back as 1900. the Connecticut Az ricultural Experiment Station being interested in the test.
 The expansion the coming season or the shade-grown tobacco industry In this section Is brought about by changes to that method by growers. by the expansion of that part of their business bys the addition of land bought recently and by the coming here of some who have not previously . been interested in the culture of to- bacco in this section. It is a case of supply and demand. and the demand for the tobacco raised under cloth has , lately been a cry with no uncertain sound and the dealers must be able to make the proper response In order ' to secure the supply some of those { whose business has been solely. or chiefly dealing in tobacco. will become groFers. in order to have what their customers want. it not always being
 
 raising of shade-grown tobacco. on account of the expense Involved. Real estaSe has changed hands to con siderable extent. in connection with the expansion which is coming in the shade-grown tobacco business
 The< "hroadle0f section", which ex- tends along the east bank of the Con- necticut River from Glastonbury to East Windsor Hill. or whereabouts. has something of tendency to stick to f Hartford and Glastonbury end. but some of the growers of small amounts in this and other sections will raise shade-grown tobacco on their tracts of. perhaps. say. from five to twenty acres each, by arrangements with bacco business.
 Several hundred acres of good to- bacco land have changed hands since the harvesting of the 1910 crop. by ing substantial croTs in 1911. and a large part of the newly acquired terri tory is to be used to raise the weed under cloth. Negotiations for other property are under way and. while the expense of raising shSde-grown to- bacco is almost prohibitive. in the case of a farmer of ordinary means, the syndicates and men of wealth are not dismayed by the big figures
 People with money to invest have reason to have confidence that their money will be we'll invested when put into the cultivation of tobacco under cloth. as the results of the past few years are decidedly encouraging. The Connecticut Tobacco Corporation will this year raise its tenth crop of shade grown and the management has given evidence of its confidence in the out come by buying 200 acres of land in Windsor and devoting it to the culti- vation of shade-grown tobacco and increasing the number of acres so used from 265 to 500. The company has had it's ups and downs in raising tobacco under cloth. once having 10C acres and then. after discoura giny re- suits getting down to ten acres used for this particular purpose. This com- pany will raise 300 acres of shade grown at its old location in Granby and East Granby and 200 at it's new one in Windsor near East Granby.
 The Connecticut Tobacco Corpora ton has had the courage of it's con- victions and it now sees satisfactory number of competitors. For about half a dozen years. the results have been decidedly encouraging to the growers of tobacco under cover and the past three years have been par ficularly good. It is estimated that the land being cleared for the grow ing of tohacco under cloth will cost come of the companies at least $500 an acre before the actual tobaccc growing is begun. and that tent to- bacco must bring nearly s1 a pound for the cheapest grades in order to leave a profit for the grower. but this isn't causing much worry among those Financially able to play the game and they would go on record as endorsing what J. B. Stewart said about two years ago. in a government publica- fion on "The Production of Cigar Wrapper Tobacco Under Shade in the Connecticut Valley, his conclusion being as follows:
 From the results of actual exneri- ments It is evident that tobacco can be produced profitably in the Connec- ticut Valley under shade. provided the grower will obtain a good strain oi seed and start in on a small scale un- til he gets some experience in grow ing and handling the crop. The best cloth to be used for shade is one with twelve hard twisted threads to the inch. In order to insure an abund- ance of good. healthy plants. the seed beds should be sterilized."
 Tn the pamphlet referred to above written by J. B. Stewart a govern nlent expert. there was a history oi the early failures in raising tobaccC under cloth in this vicinity and the history of the movement recalled sales of shade-grown tobacco in 1902 al prices ranging from s1.65 to $265 a pound and the consequent increase in acreage from forty-one in 1901 to more crop of the latter year at a loss of from 75 to 90 per cet. The writer attributed the failure to ''the pur- ~N.<n af Carrfhern rppd which in Q