Putnam patriot., 1915-07-30
SIMSBURY HAS
 BIC TOBACCO CROP
Fragrant Weed Promises Big. gest Yield Town Has Known.
MANY EARLY SALES MADE
Town Reports Largest Acreage Ever konWn-Buyers Contract for Large Crops Before They
 are Planted.

ty-fiye acres of tobacco that l ever saw at the end of July" said one of Simsbury's prominent tobacco grow. CTS, as he stood in the center of a twenty-five acre piece of tobacco be- longing to one of his neighbors. The tobacco growers of Simsbury are feel ing very much pleased with the con dition of the tobacco crop at this time; probably 90 per cent. of the crop is in the finest condition and some that did not look promising a week ago has since made a remark. able growth. With anything like nor, nal weather through the month of August the crop in this valley will be an exceptionally good one. Buyers are already beginning to look over the crops.
 No particular advantage is gained by an early sale of the crop. be- cause if the crop is poor the buyer will crawl out of the bargain. and if it is good, there will be no trouble in making a sale. Many of the larger growers have their crop of tobacco contracted for before it is set, thing undreamed of a decade ago.
 The acreage this year is consider ably larger than last year, probably about 1000 acres in this town. Of this amount about 400 acres are of shade grown, but there are 1,200 acres of shade grown in and around Simsbury. As the cost or harvesting and curing this type of tobacco is costly. it Is left mostly to tobacco corporations, although there are few ten-acre pieces being raised under contract Many of the growers of shade grown tobacco will begin har vesting soon now, and so will some of the growers who use the priming method of harvesting By this method the lea ,Ss are picked from the stalks as fast as they ripen, about four of the bottom leaves being picked at the first picking. These are placed in baskets and carried to the sheds and strung on strings attached to lath, and hung. The top leaves are left to mature. There will usually be four pickings. as about eighteen leaves are left on the plant after it is stopped. This method is used by many of the large individual growers. but costs 3 or cents a pound more. It is said that this method produces more wrap pers than the old stringing method. which is still the favorite way of har- vesting with a large percentage of tn growers The priming method also c11 Inf
 The American Sumatra Tobacco Company has made large additions to it's shed room. They have also bought considerable land adjoining their plant in Weatogue. Last year they raised ninety acres of shade grown and also a large acreage of tobacco in the open. This year they have doubled their shade grown, rais. ing 1S0 acres and have no tobacco in the open Ninety acres of this year s crop is on new land and Superinten- dent Kohn is well pleased with the condition of the whole crop.
 Simsbury would seem to be espe- cially fortunate this year in escaping the hail and wind storms that worked havoc to the tobacco crop in several towns and also in escaping conditions that other towns are complaining of as having produced poor crops, It is probable that some of the complain ing growers are more scared than hurt, as with favorable conditions their crops will probably be up to the average.
 A great opportunity for tobacco culture has certainly opened up for the farmers in the Pennington Val lev and in fact the whole Connects cut Valley. Tobacco is said to be the largest cash crop in Connecticut, be ing valued at more s7000,000 annual ly, and that is probably conserva. tive estimate. Most of that is pro duced within a radius of twenty-five miles of Hartford, and adds not a little to the prosperity of that city. The past few years have been most profitable ones for the tobacco grow CT. but tobacco is not sure winner and to be a successful grower of to baeco. a man needs all the judgment the Lord has given him and then some.
 At meeting of the Pennington Valley Farmers Association held in this place a few months ago, Marcus L. Floyd, president of the Connect. cut Tobacco Corporation told the as sociation that he thought that Con. necticut and the farmers of the Con necticut Valley especially, had the greatest future for the raising of to- bacco of any place in the world. The Connecticut soil is a tobacco soil. Men have made fortunes in growing tobae- co in this section. and others have struck it lucky one season and gone bankrupt the next.
 That thinking men have realized that an opportunity was at hand in the culture of tobacco is shown by the fact that very few. tobacco farms are for sale. Land that would grow tobacco has been bought up, until almost every available acre of tobac- co land is in cultivation.