The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1919-08-22
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

cation attended from Edgerton and
vicinity. composed of dealers and grow
ers, and the general verdict was that
tire more meetings of this nature the
greater will be the benefits for all con-
cerned. The results of experiments
carried on jointly by the Wisconsin
Agricultural Experiment Station and
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture were shown. 1t is estimated
that SOD to 1000 growers were present
duringsthe day. A large number came
in automobiles from the surrounding
districts and from Vernon and Craw-
ford counties. Several growers from
Barron and Chippewa counties were
present and one grower came from st.
Cloud, Minn., to attend the meeting.
Methods for the control of the root rot
disease of tobacco were demonstrated
| in particular. This disease causes large
annual losses among tobacco growers
in Wisconsin and other states. Living
specimens of the disease were shown
which illustrated at the same time the
relative resistance of different types of
tobacco to this disease. The growers
were then taken to the fields where
they could observe the relative growth
OF number of different types of to-
bacco on healthy and on ''sick' soil.
Some of the resistant strains shown
would yield normal crop on sick soil,
whereas others showed complete fail
ure in yield. The great possibilities of
disease resistant types Of seed were
evident to all. The Importance OF ro-
tation of crops where non-resistant
types of seed were used was illustrated
by experiments in which tobacco was
grown after various crops. Clover and
alfalfa in. rotation gave the best re-
suits. Specimens of all other diseases
to which the tobacco plant is heir in
the United States were shown, tOgeth-
er with the organisms which cause
them, when known. Many of the
growers had an opportunity to see
these germs themselves through
high powered. microscopes. The pre-
paration of poison bait for the control
of grasshoppers was demonstrated.
Growers were also interested in seeing
how plants may be crossed and the re-
suit of such crossing in the production
of different types of tobacco. Many
growers for the first time had oppor-
tunity to see many of the kinds of to-
bacco grown commercially in other
parts of the world. Cuban, Sumatra,
Burley, Pryor, Oronoco, Broadleaf and
Turkish varieties were among those
which attracted the most attention.
The Beeman tractor cultivator, the
Bemis transplanterr and the National
Fertilizer association had representa-
tives on the ground. The stripping
machine to be demonstrated by the
Connecticut Valley Machinery Co. of
Battleboro, Vermont, did not arrives
owing to the railroad strikes.
Next the Tobacco Campaign. Now
that nation wide prohibition seems as
sured, those who are as bitterly oppos-
ed to the use of tobacco are getting
ready to launch campaign. The ex
treme radicals who would make this
nation smokeless as well as dry are
likely to awake some morning and find
that overnight their dreams of heav
enly place in which to live here on
earth have been suddenly punctured
and collapsed like toy balloon. And
now the tobacco campaign is to be
launched. The w. c. T. U. has plan
ned to make the nation smokeless by
1924, when the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union will celebrate its
semi This may sound like
dream, but as you look back over the
period in which the dry forces waged
their most successful campaign, moth
| ing is at all surprising. Five years ago
at least above the ground, by August,
1919, would have caused laughter, and
subjected the party to all manner OF
| thing is possible Mrs. Elizabeth Per-
kins, national executive secretary of
the W. c. T. u, to an investigators for
| the government is quoted as saying:
"We certainly contemplate abolishing
| tobacco. Our campaign against not
only cigarettes but all forms of tobac-
co will be under way as soon as pro-
| hibition is definitely accomplished. Of
course, we are not telling everyone our
plans. | would consider it bad ethics
| to let the tobacco interests know what
we intend to do. We think that snnok-
ers would give up smoking more readily
| if it were not for the persistent adver-
| tising in the newspapers. | think that
cigarettes were given undue publicity
| during the war, and that it is great
wrong to send so many cigarettes to
! the soldiers. 1t merely teaches the
| soldiers to smoke, and science shows
us that smoking could not possibly have
done them good. Let those who laugh
| or scout the idea that campaign is on
| against tobacco, read what this organ
| ization of women proposes. Have these
women stopped to consider that you
can crowd a foot into tight shoe,
! even to pinching the member, but if
| the strain is too great something is go
| ing to snap. That is just what will oc-
| cur in this country with an endeavor to
arrange everything on the pink tea or
der. This country has prided and
boasted of the personal liberties that
were guaranteed under the c0nstitu-
tion and now come along few who
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