The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1912-12-13
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

NOTE BOOK SKETCHES
The tobacco growers of this state
have seldom been favored with more
perfect casing weather than that which
prevailed last week and permitted as
much of the hanging crops to be re-
moved from the sheds as they desired.
The tobacco came gradually into case
through two or three days of damp
fogs without rain, so there was but
very little danger of the leaf absorb
ing too much moisture. The stalks
were so thoroughly cured out, too, that
but little injury is liable to occur If the
piles RENAME unstripped for some time
from staining of the leaf. A mild tenn
perature prevailed and the damp con-
tinued long enough so that growers
had ample time to clear out their cur
ing sheds if they cared to do so. Strip
ping will now go forward with all the
help available throughout the growing
districts and in short time deliveries
Of the crop can be made. The packers
will doubtless commence to receive a
portion of their purchases as soon as
they are ready in order to be able to
start warehouse handling right after
the holidays.
Activities in the packing centers are
now assured and will be gladly well
coined by the laboring classes who de-
pend upon tobacco work for their win
ter's employment. So large portion
of the crop is already under contract
for warehouse handling that much
larger force will be needed than for
some seasons past, which will doubtless
extend we'll into the summer months.
The releasing of five or six million dol
lars mostly of eastern money for the
payment of the crop to growers the
next three months and the thousands
paid in weekly payrolls at the ware
houses will add new impulse to busi-
ness throughout the tobacco sections of
the state and bring comfort and pleas
ure to hundreds of homes. Every line
of business will be benefited by this
influx Of f~ready cash and for this reason
we welcome the opening of another to-
bacco season.
One explanation given of the pmex-
pectedly large quantity of tobacco re-
ported by the manufacturers and deal
ers as being on hand October is that
it contained many Implications. Very
frequently packer or dealer sells to-
baeco to "a manufacturer, to be deliv-
cred when needed, the tobacco re
manning IN the meantime in storage
and in the name of the dealer
Nothing that has happened In a long
time has caused so much comment
among THE leaf dealers as the publica-
tion of the summary of the tobacco
stocks eon hand October /. The total
amount of tobacco shown by the report
is over one billion pounds, considerably
larger than one years crop The SIT
uation shown by THE figures is mot such
as the dealers in cigar leaf are quickly
able ito recognize las being "a trale state
ment of the case. 1t does not accord
with their precOnoeived beliefs, and m
some respects is directly opposite to
what they consider their knowledge.
No ONE believes, for instance, that ON
October 4 there we've 236, 6,0O0 cases of
old Wisconsin tobacco in the manufac-
turers' hands, or in the hands of manu-
facturers, packers, dealers and farmers
altogether. 1f there is any fact IN the
trade about which there has BEEN no
doubt whatsoever, 1T rs that Wisconsin
tobacco lis a very scarce article In
fact, there lis said to be a starvation of
this type rather than a scarcity. And
vet the governments figures gravely
assure us fh at apart from about 10, 600,
900 pounds of stripped Wisconsin, US
able only by the manufacturers of to-
bacco, there were 60,000,O00 pounds
600, 600 casesa of unstripped, presum-
ably cigar material, In storage on Oeto-
Der /. 1t is very certain this tobacco
is not in the hands of leaf dealers If
it exists, it must be in the hands of the
faaanufacturerss and if that is true the
action of the large factories in buying
up the 1912 crop last fall at almost un-
hea0d of figures, was certainly remark
able For if we deduct Is per cent for
low grades, it would still leave 176,OOO
cases of Wisconsin tobacco, which is
considerably more than a years sup
ply. And with this knowledge staring
them in the face, it is highly unlikely
that the larger manufacturing concerns
would have engaged in mad scramble
for contracts last fall.-N. Y. Leaf.
~
A meeting of the tobacco growers
was held at cambridge, Georgia. on
Thanksgiving day to investigate the
burning of S25, 900 worth of leaf tobac-
co in Decatur county on Wednesday
night. Three large barns were de-
stroyed in Georgia county and two
Io, - ~. o0 byy