The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1919-03-14
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

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| The buying movement has gained
such headway of late there is very
good reason to believe that the great
| bulk of the 1918 tobacco will be lifted
before the seeding of another crop be-
gins. The stemming concerns seem to
be open for an unlimited amount of the
cheaper grades and the disposition of
growers to accept the going prices has
| made trading easy so that the move
| ment has been conducted as rapidly as
is often witnessed in this state. The
| better grades, too, have been hunted
quite extensively so there is not likely
| to be carried over the summer any such
proportion Of the crop as was thought
might be a few weeks ago. The grow
ers' associations are also packing few
thousand cases of the crop, which also
helps clean up the state. The situa- |
tion, therefore, has been greatly re-
lieved in that the growers have been
able to dispose of their holdings, pay |
their pressing bills and know exactly |
where they stand. 1t also disproves
the assertion frequently made at farm |
ers' meetings a few weeks ago that |
'.the dealers refuse to buy their to- |
bacco"
The trouble over the delivery of the |
tobacco crop in Vernon county has ap- |
parently aroused the growers to take |
some united action in the premises as |
expressed in call for public meeting /
to be held on the 10th inst. The Yer |
non County Censor this week published |
the following notice signed by num-
Der of well known growers: I
"Whereas, small portion of the to- |
bacco crop of Vernon county has been |
sold; and whereas, buyers have habit |
ually violated the terms of their con-
tracts, and the question of the future |
growing of the crop, the disposition OF |
the present crop, and the contract !
rights of the growers, are subjects for |
consideration and decision as well as |
united action;
Therefore, a public meeting of to-
bacco growers, farmers and interested /
persons is hereby called to meet at the |
Farmers Bank. Viroqua, Wis, on Mon
day, March 10, at O'Clock p. m, to
tal appropriate action in the prem
isess
If the result of this meeting and 9TH
er similar ones held about the state is
to promote sentiment that will dis.
courage field buying in the future, most
all the troubles complained of will be
obviated. The surest way to prevent
disappointments at delivery time is to
refuse to enter into any contract for
the sale of tobacco until the crop is at
least cured and it's quality somewhat
accurately determined. The writer has
been preaching this doctrine for years
past but so long as immature tobacco
is sold in the fields there is bound to be /
reflections, reductions and unpleasant
ness at delivery time. 1t is ample time
the stamp of disapproval was put on
the practice.
The increased tax which the new
revenue bill places upon manufactured |
tobacco is, as everybody expected. |
passed on to the consumer. Thus the |
retail price will be logged up to meet |
what the government has added for |
revenue. The increase is slight on |
small packages but will give the re- |
taller an opportunity to increase his |
profits in adjusting even change, for it |
is difficnlt to figure an average of 20 |
per cent advance on all sized packages. |
-
The experiments made last season by |
Otto Olsen, the federal government ex- |
pert in charge of the Ephrata, Pa, ex-
pertinent station, show that tobacco on
which no fertilizer was used on the !
land, gave weight of only 1880 pounds
to the acre, while that on which man.
ure was used, as well as other fertiiZ-
ers, yielded as high as 2120 pounds per
acre, while that on which only manure
was used gave 1916 pounds. The ex-
periments at the Ephrata station are
with view to determining the best
strains of cigar leaf fore the soils of
Lancaster county and adjoining terri
tory A variety test has been made
with view to determine the influence /
of environment on the growth and
quality of the leaf Mr.. Olsen has /
been very successful in producing to- |
bacco with low percentage of nicotine
content, as we'll as in producing type |
| with high percentage, the latter be- I
| ing designed for industrial purposes. |
The question of curing the leaf has al
| ways been an important one and Mr.. /
| Olsen has devoted much time to i'm
proving the existing method, the main |
object being, of course, to preserve to- I
bacco from damage while undergoing |
the curing process. This experiment |
shows that the application of heat in .