The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1913-06-06

and mystify the public without serving
any good purpose.
Further commenting on this matter
the U. S. Tobacco Journal says: Ac-
cording to the statistics Of our internal
revenue bureau our manufacturers Of
tobacco, that is the manufacturers of
plug, finecut, smoking, snuff and cigar
cites, consume about 375, 900, 900 pounds
of tobacco annually. To meet this con-
sumption these manufacturers are re-
ported to have now on hand over 900,
600, 900, or say 500, 900, 900 pounds more
than they can possibly consume for
another year. With surplus of 10
per cent Of their raw material on hand,
how then can these tobacco manufac
turers be expected to rush into the
embrace of the tobacco farmer and beg
him to sell them his tobacco at his own
price in order to relieve him of a scar
city of stock? And this 500, 900, 600
pounds of hogshead leaf is in excess of
the unknown stock in hand of the to-
bacco growers which must be consider
able also. Not less discouraging must
the census figures appear to our domes-
tic cigar leaf growers. For the stock
of domestic cigar leaf in hand of cigar
leaf dealers and cigar manufacturers on
April 1st is given as 1913, 800, 026 pounds
which figure represents an increase of
nearly 55 million pounds over the stock
reported to have been in hand on Octo-
Der 1st last. And their stock of nearly
400 million pounds of cigar leaf is ex-
elusive Of the stock in the hands of our
cigar leaf farmers themselves. And
that the farmers stock must be con-
siderable, at least in some cigar leaf
sections of the country, everybody In
the trade is perfectly aware of. But
as the consumption of domestic cigar
leaf by our cigar industry is recorded
by the internal revenue bureau to be
about 130 million pounds annually, 1T
appears from the census figures that
there must be two years full supply
of domestic leaf in the hands Of our
cigar manufacturers and cigar leaf
dealers.
It should be remembered, however,
that tobacco is a prodnct OF the soil
that is seldom fit to go into manufac-
ture until it is at least year or even
more old and at all times there must
be one and half or two full crops
somewhere on hand for the adjustment
of supplies so manufacturers may be
continually busy. The statistics brought
out by the returns under the Cantrell
law especially emphasize this fact. 1t
the government designs its statistics to
be of much value in the cigar leaf par
ticularly it should attempt to designate
the kinds as well as the quality Of the
different types of leaf on hand IN It's
reports, else very little attention will
be paid them by the trade.
-
In interpreting these figures it ought
to be borne in mind that to large ex-
tent no allowance has been made for
shrinkage; that in spite of the census
bureau officials attempts to prevent, a
great deal Of tobacco has probably
been reported twice, and that so far as
the cigar leaf tobacco types are con-
cerned, great deal Of this tobacco is
reported which is useful only to the
manufacturers of smoking tobacco,
snuff, ETC., only. This would include
the low grades. rags, trash, ETC., which
in the report must be credited to the
state of its origin, no matter whether
useful in the cigar industry or not.