The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-06-07


|fin this badness. tke more we ats ini-
!. pressed with the changes and uncer-
4 tainfies. and the more every continA'
| gency has been guarded and every OPP
i portunity taken advantage OF. the
more unforeseen obstacles can arise
/ and render all our calculations null
and void. Many of us have = super
L stition that i'll luck will follow neg
|tlect Of ret tAking advantages OF the
|fobpor.dnay to sell lot OF <obacco,
and II the opportunity Afforded was At
all a reasonable one, the trite saying,
attributed to one Of our old Southside
Virginia dealers, that "ail offers should
be duly considered and rarely reject
] ed" has become an axiom OF the trade.
However by thus coming together we
can get better acquainted ana learn 10
know the better sides Of each others
nature and in many ways improve the
| occasion to our benefit.
l Since our last meeting nothing or
any startling nature has developed In
the business. We were threatened by
some Western railroads with very
heavy advance in freight rates, In
which our association, with the CO.
operation Of the other commercial
bodies, was able to prevent its even
being considered by the interstate
| commerce commission. 1t Is but right
Ito state that this proposed advance
did not have the sanction or co-opera-
ton Of any OF the railroads with which
the members Of our association DO
business.
| General Business Good.
| In the manufacturing line OF our
calling, the general business has been
good and new records have been made.
High class tobacco Of every kind has
taken the lead in demand and the
general tendency of the times to live
high is reflected in the tobacco BUSH
ness az we'll as in other things. In
this connection 1t might be we'll to
note the unfortunately great differ
ence that IL made In the price of leaf
tobacco, when the actual difference is
/ so slight, and 1t does seem that tobacco
4 that comes so near the grade should
| be in some way priced up to what 1t
| apparently Is worth. All the big
companies have done remarkably well,
and the well managed smaller facto-
/ ries have been but little behind in
their success.
4 The leading features have been the
| large increase in the high class Gig
1 arctic trade and cut plug and high
| class granulated hurley smoking, In
4 both Of which most Of the increase in
the consumption Of tobacco seems to
have come on making the leaf tobacco
suitable for cigarettes and high class
smoking hurley exceedingly high. In
1 leaf tobacco the trade has been sub
jected to various vicissitudes. In the
fue-cured bright tobacco OF Virginia,
North Carolina and South Carolina,
any one who has the tobacco of de-
cided color has had no trouble in dis
posing OF 1t 10 advantage; but when
1t was not up to what the trade SEEM
ed to demand, the sales have been very
| hard to make.
Burley Angles Complex.
! In Burley tobacco many complex
angles developed. The market was in
an exceedingly excited state for some
time and everything was active and
in good demand, the color OF tobacco
suitable for high class cut plug SELL
ing exceedingly high; but after the
great bulk OF the crop was sold, more
or less suddenly, the market became
| dull and apathetic, and until today we
are all asking what's the matter with
hurley.
No surplus. except Of the low grades
| of hurley, Is in hand. and no doubt 1t
will all be taken up before the new
crop can be raised.
The dark shipping types of tobacco
in Virginia Tennessee and Kentucky
| have been In a more or less unsatls-
| factory condition, both to the grower
and buyer. There are SO many causes
that originate in the country to which
this tobacco is shipped that 1t is very
hard to explain these unsatisfactory
conditions, Change OF laws, giving
difference In favor of the home grower,
change Of taste, which sometimes OPP
crates very strongly, possibly the In
PRODUCTION OF bright cigarettes-all
may combine to bring about this evil
dent lack of usual interest in our dark
hard-fired shipping tobacco
t~I 80
to look into the question OF the sale
of tobacco that was taken by certain
reggie governments, and under all OF
the prevailing conditions II Is to be
sincerely hoped that this matter Will
be treated in a diplomatic way. as,
while the conditions as to dark tobacco
are not satisfactory, the withdrawal
of orders OF the governments using
the higher class dark shipping to-
markets, means very much to our Vir-
GINA farmers and the loss would be
very disastrous indeed. The dark
shipping tobacco raisers are certainly
entitled to more than they are now
getting for their tobacco. but how 1t
is going to be obtained, when the con-
ditions in most of the foreign coun-
tries are such that they are only de-
manding the low class OF tobacco, 1t
is very hard to say. In very great
measure the dark crop Of tobacco will
be raised by small farmers. who work
little less than their own home labor
In dark tboacco there will be de-
crease in the crop in every section.
/ As to New Crop.
There has been no doubt that there
has been a material increase in plant
ing in. South Carolina and Eastern
North Carolina, and. TO some extent.
in the old belt in North Carolina and
Virginia. the total increase of which
will be somewhere between 15 and Is
per cent. There are so many con-