The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1917-03-30
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

/ The Wisconsin tobacco growers are
making their plans for another crop,
| for the seed beds must be laid shortly.
The striking condition of the cigar leaf
| market is likely to lead to a desire
among farmers to increase their acre
age wherever it is possible to do so.
Not in years has the market situation
| given such assurance of high prices for
the coming seasons crop, as we'll as
for year or so following. A decided
| shortage of the available supply of ci-
| gar tobaccos coupled with short crop
in most states has brought about a con-
| dition rarely witnessed. With new
| records being made in the production
of cigars and the fast diminishing sup
| ply of raw leaf eagerly gobbled out of
| the market, the manufacturing trade
finds itself squarely up against prop.
osition of alarming proportions such as
! was never before known. In spite of
the splendid prospects for increased
| profits in tobacco growing, there are
| factors that will prevent an extraor
binary increase of acreage in this state
first the labor problem and second
| suitable land, tools and shed equipment
! to care for much additional acreage.
However, the growers will doubtless
utilize the entire shed capacity the
| coming season, some of which has been
idle for some years past. The lncreas-
ed cost of curing sheds will prevent
| many new raisers from engaging in to-
bacco culture, we imagine. 1t is prob
ably just as we'll for tobacco growers
not TO attempt greater acreage than
they can successfully cultivate with the
labor at their command.
Wisconsin has been selected by the
U. S. Department of Agriculture as
the field for an important line of CO.
operative tobacco Investigations. Dis
eases affecting the tobacco plant, which
have become of great concern to grow
ers throughout the country, will form
the main subject for research and ex-
pertinent These include the troubles
which injure the plant from seed time
to final handling in the warehouse. Ex-
perimental study of the disease prob
lens of the Wisconsin growers have
been under way for some time, and
similar projects have been started in
Kentucky, Maryland and Connecticut.
In addition to James Johnson, horti-
cultural department, University of Wis
consin, recent appointments to the staff
| in charge of the studies include C. M.
| Slagg, Cambridge, Wis, as full assist,
ant, and r. E. Hartman, Pennsylvania,
and Herman Ninnan, Wisconsin, as
part time workers. Most of the funds
for the experiments will be furnished
by the federal department, while the
equipment and laboratory facilities will
be supplied by the state.
A prominent leaf tobacco merchant
summed up the present trade situation
| in this way: 1--WE are witnessing
revolution in trade What will come
of it nobody can say. All the old prin-
ciples that have supposedly been basic
have gone by the board. Whether they
| will control again when the present ab
| normal circumstances have gone, no.
body can say. Whether what we now
consider normal circumstances will ever
| come again is equally problematical.
The present range of prices is running
the small manufacturer. A Sumatra
| wrapped, Pennsylvania filled cigar, now
that Pennsylvania is selling at thirty
cents, ought to be three for a quarter
| instead of five cents. If theftrade can
| adjust itself to that basis, we'll and
| good. If not, there is hard shedding
| ahead for somebody. The second most
| significant fact before the trade is that
| a great many factories, hitherto pros
porous, are for sale. The most sig
nifcant fact Of all is that nobody is
willing to buy them.
Xxx
| What is by far the largest and most
UNIQUE purchase of Sumatra tobacco
ever consummated by American deal
ers is the deal reputed to have been
made by cable between the Deli Mats
chappy and syndicate, comprising
three of the leading Sumatra importing
houses in the United States. Fully
| 5086 bales of choice tobacco of the 1916
crop, of practically all the Deli Mats
| chappy plantations, were involved, and
| the tobacco was purchased without
single leaf being shown, or the exact
| grading being known, the transaction
involving the outlay of nearly $1,750,-
900 by the time the goods reach New
York. John D. Duys, who, jointly
| with Abraham Blur and Joseph Gull
mon Jr., will manage the syndicate.
While the price paid for the tobacco is
| high, it would have been considerably
higher if this syndicate had not been
formed and individual bids had been
made, and while they have hopes of
making a profit, anybody who ever
| handled Sumatra tobacco must realize
the tremendous risk they have taken,
as they have not seen single leaf nor
| do they know today the assortment, to-
| wit: the percentage of light, medium
and off-colored tobaccos they have pur-
| chased.
| An official report says that the 1916
season was not favorable for tobacco
| cultivation in Canada, the summer hav-
| ing been rather cool. In Quebec and
| Ontario provinces the estimated area