Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1917-12-14
STABLE PRICES
FOR TOBACCO
Also Protection Of the Planters in
The Future.
HOME MARKETS ARE URGED
Leaf Tobacco Association Appeals 10
Southern Maryland Planters to be
More Careful In Packing

The Leaf Tobacco Association OF
Baltimore has started a movement
to bring about reater stability in
the selling price of tobacco in the
leaf as well as to improve the pack
ing of the produce and to stimulate
Baltimore as the market for tobacco
gron in Southern Maryland.
The movement has had its origin
largely in new practice among
Southern Maryland growers under
which they have been disposing Of
their uninspected crops in their
barns They believe that this prac-
tice Will not impair the stability of
the market, but will also be fraught
with the danger of iniuring the good
reputation of Maryland-grown to-
bacco because OF the absence of in
spection.
Because OF the war and shutting
off or importations of Turkish and
other foreign-grown tobaccos the de-
mand in this country for the home
product has increased out of all
bounds. Maryland tobacco, most OF
which was ordinarily exported to
Holland. Germany and France, is now
being sought by domestic tobacco
companies, and as a consequence of
the work of the agents of these con-
Germs 600 hogsheads of the weed last
year were diverted from Baltimore as
market or clearing house.
Anne Arundel, Prince George, Cal
vert, St Mary's and Charles counties
raise annually about 23,000,000 pounds
or about $4,000 hogsheads of tobacco
This total crop is worth between S5,-
100000 and $6,OO0,0OO. and is sent to
Baltimore, where nine large con-
Germs compete with each other in
their efforts to buy up this product
The tobacco grown in the State IS only
exceeded in amount and value by
wheat. corn and rye in the order
named
Farmers of Maryland are privileged
to send their tobacco to the ware
houses and they may keep their hogs
heads there for indefinite periods
without paying storage. The buyers
pay what is called an outage" when
they purchase tobacco, and this
makes the State tobacco warehouses
self-sustaining. Governor Harring-
ton had intimated that the State will
close these warehouses in the event
chat the farmers divert their tobacco
to such an extent that the warehouses
would no longer be self-supporting
and for this reason the Leaf Tobacco
Association, of which DR.. r. l.. Bur-
we'll is president, is waging its cam
paign
1t was pointed out yesterday that
the farmers will be the losers in the
long run if they divert their tobaccos
from the State warehouses The As
sociation declares that in the event
that the warehouses are closed the
big tobacco companies will be able to
dictate their own terms and that the
farmers will no longer have the op-
portunity of sending their tobacco to
Baltimore and then to have it stored
for indefinite periods while they seek
the customers who will pay them the
most money for their product.
Efforts are being made to have all
of the growers of tobacco pack their
hogsheads uniformly A majority Of
the growers, it is said. do so now, but
! some pack their product in such a
manner that it is sold at a lower
price than could be obtained other
wise. There are. ordinarily, three
grades of tobacco on each plant and
the farmer who separates these diff
ferent grades gets better prices than
if he packed all three grades in one
hogshead to save time and little
labor.