The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1916-02-04
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

- W. 0OON ONE Ssi-S
With the unusual amount of casing
weather during January the tobacco
growers of this state have been fav-
ored with an opportunity to clean out
their curing sheds and complete the
stripping of the crop. The growers
now have their tobacco as nearly ready
for delivery as they scarcely ever have
at this date. As fully two-thirds of
the crop is already under contract, the
deliveries will now be crowded along as
rapidly as possible. A good deal of
buying is still under way so there is a
prospect that the crop will be pretty
we'll gathered in before the seed beds
of another crop are laid The great
bulk of it has been sold at low prices
but the growers are familiar with its
quality and quite readily accept the
going figures without much question.
Had an average crop been produced
there would be an entirely different
story to tell.
The N. Y. Tobacco Leaf advances a
very pertinent reason why Wisconsin
tobacco growers should employ every
means to maintain the quality of their
tobacco and thus preserve their market:
In Wisconsin the large percentage of
low grades of the past two or three
crops is causing uneasiness. Many are
wondering if the farmers Of that state
have forgotten how to grow good to-
bacco. 1t is suggested that smaller
crops, better cultivated, would remedy
the trouble. The trade needs all the
good Wisconsin binders it can get, and
as the demand for Shadegrown and
Primed is cutting into the production
of binders in Connecticut, Wisconsin is
likely to have good market for all the
tobacco it can produce that can be used
for binders. If the farmers take ad-
vantage of this situation to the hurt of
the quality of their products, they will
be killing the goose that for many
years has laid the golden egg for them.
Fifty per cent of the 1914 crop went to
stemmers at five cents pound; Is per
cent of the 1915 crop went the same
way.
The European war will have one good
effect, at least, on the tobacco industry
of the United States. Tobacco stems
may have an important bearing upon
the potash situation. The National
Salt and Chemical Co., which has been
carrying on operations that have been
regarded as a mystery Tor some time,
has just made the fannouncement that
it has succeeded in discovering a meth
cd by which potash can be made from
tobacco stems. Several months ago
tilis company leased the 'Benwood
Brewing company's plant at Benwood,
w. Va, and installed large amount
Of expensive machinery. The success
of the new process cannot be fully es-
tablished until the European conflict is
over. The potash situation in America
is serious one at present. Nearly all
the potash which is used here formerly
came from Germany, and the stopping
of the supply has raised the price to
$500 ton, and made it almost impossi-
BILE for many firms to obtain sufficient
to carry on their business. 1t is said
that the difficulty in manufacturing
potash in America has not been that
processes by which it could be obtained
were not at hand, but that all of them
were too costly to compete with the
German methods. The free deposits in
Germany rendered it possible for them
to bring the material across the Allan
tic far cheaper than it could be manu-
factured here. We have no free de-
posits here. However, the tobacco
stem is destined to play an important
part in the production Of this chemical
by the newly discovered method, as it
is richer in potash than almost any
other vegetable growth. The inven-
tion is being watched very carefully all
over the country. 1t may also mean a
source of revenue to handlers of to-
bacco stems and open new field in the
industry. The stems are burned in
large furnaces, designed especially for
this purpose, and the smoke accumu-
lated is condensed, and put through the
new patented process, which actually
manufactures the potash.
Information has been received from
Ruthven, Ontario, located in the Wind
sor consular district, that large loads
of the Warne variety of tobacco are
being delivered to the buyers at Lean
ington every day, and as the prices
range from twenty to thirty cents