The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1919-05-23
NOTE Book SKETCHES

The outlook at the present writing IS
that the tobacco plants will be late
this season, thus devolving upon the
grower the necessity of pushing along
the growth of the young plants by the
usual methods of increasing a more
rapid advancement. The frequent wat
ering of the beds with a solution of
liquid fertilizer is very helpful, and as
soon as the plants have reached the
size of dime the application of the
commercial nitrate of soda, which can
be obtained from dealers in the grow
ing sections, usually brings about sat
isfactory results. 1t is important that
the beds be kept thoroughly moistened
and the top not be permitted to dry out
if the plant beds are expected to make
up any delays of belated season.
Steamed seed beds require more moist
ure to produce crop of seedlings than
the untreated beds and therefore need
more attention. Two or three pounds
of nitrate in barrel of water is suf-
ficient to cover two to three rods of
beds. A second application can be
made in ten days of the first, and plain
water sprinkled on the plants before
and after the application will lessen
the danger of injury to the plant foil
age.
Tobacco buyers who have been driv-
ing the country districts of late tell us
they are surprised to find so many
growers not yet willing to accept the
going prices and have their crops laid
loosely in cases where it can safely be
held indefinitely. This is certainly the
right thing to do where farmers have
neither the facilities nor help to sort
and pack their tobacco in the regular
way. When cared for in this manner
no harm can come to their holdings,
and until such time comes for selling
it no further expense need be incurred.
We learn also that some of the farmer
warehouses are handling some of the
tobacco coming to them IN the same
manner as the help situation will not
permit their putting over the tables all
the tobacco coming to them. This step
An protecting the farmer against deter
ioration and loss through holding the
tobacco through the summer in bundles
so lvyS 50 ybo% ifoy
has previously urged in this column.
-
The organization of the Consolidated
Cigar Co., capitalized for SD, 600, 600
and representing combined output of
800 million cigars annually from about
80 different factories, was completed
in New York during the week. The
new corporation will have standing
alongside the big ones-the General
Cigar Co., Eisenlohr, American Cigar
Co., ETC., both in the output of exclu-
sive brands and in the distribution of
the same. In cigar manufacturing es-
pecially the tendency of the times is
towards the absorption of business in
to larger units.
The new minister of finance of Hol-
land recently stated that he intends to
levy an import duty on raw tobacco.
The size of this proposed import duty
was not mentioned but it is believed to
be very small, possibly not as much as
10 per cent; nevertheless an active
campaign has developed against this
plan. Banks, Dutch East Indian tobac-
co companies and tobacco merchants
and brokers are joining in protest. 1t
is pointed out that Amsterdam was
formerly the most important tobacco
market of the world Tobacco from
all parts of the world could be bought
in Amsterdam in peace times from sam
plies on exhibition with large brokers
there. During the war Amsterdam ac-
tivities as tobacco market practically
ceased. One of the important causes
of this change is that the United States,
which was formerly one of the heaviest
buyers on the Amsterdam market, is
now purchasing direct from the Dutch
East Indies. 1t is felt that Amsterdam
will never recover it's former impor-
tance as tobacco market if duty is
charged on imports.
~
Taking the general cigar leaf tobacco
situation, throughout the entire coun-
try, into consideration, matters seem
to have arrived more nearly at dead
centre of inactivity than any time in
the last four or five years. Whether
this is the lull before the storm, or not,
it is impossible to say, but the fact
nevertheless remains that there is less
doing, either in old tobaccos or in the
1918 crop, than we have seen in long
time. Even in the first two or three
months after the armistice was signed
there was better degree of interest
manifested in the trade. Nothing has
developed yet in the way of export
business that is especially interesting
to the grower of cigar leaf tobacco in
this country While there is constant
increase in the quantity of tobacco be-