The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1920-12-03
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


sibIe about it. The human mind is very
susceptible to suggestion, especially to
| suggestions of danger which is to be
met. The imagination is quick to
| be fired with all kinds of possibilities,
| and there is not one in hundred who
can keep his head and use his common
| sense and minimize the dangers instead
of magnifying them. And the more
| the real, or imaginary, calamity is dis
cussed. the more are the minds of or
binary people prone to fall under the
spell of the fear of the something or
other that everybody talks about. We
are just passing through such psy-
| Geological fear period, and the wisest
course to follow by calm heads is to
shut up and talk about something else.
We will soon enough find out 1t will
happen this time as it always did-the
anticipation is worse by good many
degrees than the realization. This is
especially true Of the situation in the
| tobacco industry. There is not at the
present time that buoyant vigor, and
never enough to-be-had at any old price
which characterized the industry some
months ago. Let us remember that
those times were abnormal times and
! abnormal conditions. The activity dur
ing this period was rather symptom
of the after-war chaos, than an organic
| link in the reconstruction of the world
| to normal conditions. Let it be ad-
mitted that there is marked slow-up.
| There is lot of 1920 tobacco which has
| not yet been sold. This may cause
number of people some inconvenience,
| but the fact that it has not been sold is
no calamity, neither is it sign that it
will not sell, nor that it will bring
price that is not fairly consistent with
| it's value, the intrinsic merit of the
| leaf taken into consideration. The
same method of reasoning applies TO
| the cigar dealer and the manufacturer.
| The call for goods is at the present
| time done on the basis of great caution;
no apne is stocking up heavily with
| gdB But this does not nee<! to mean.
| that the smokers are going TO quit buy
| ing cigars and tobacco. Added to this
| is the fact that of the tobacco which is
| of binder and wrapper quality is not
| begging for market even at the high
| prices paid for both last and this years
| crops, because there is not any more Of
| this goods available than the trade
needs right along, if indeed enough to-
satisfy the demand If weather and
| soil conditions have operated against
producing the best quality leaf in GER
| tain sections, and the price can not be
/ had that q first-class leaf brings, the
grower and packer are both disappoint-
| ed, bat they have to make the best of
it under the circumstances. The pros
poets are that thin, leafy, well colored
Wisconsin binder of good burn will con-
tinue to bring good price. This type
of leaf will always be in good demand
because it produces the greatest amount
of cigars to the pound of leaf, and the
territory where this leaf is produced
annually is limited. Theseeexigencies
confront all products of the soil That
the situation of the tobacco industry IN
general is facing period of big slumps
and dire losses are fears that have no
real foundation in the facts attending
it. These views are supported by the
tone of the tobacco press. Thus the
Tobacco Leaf in discussion of the leaf
situation has the following to say about
the domestic end of it.:
/ So far as the domestic situation is
concerned it is a pretty we'll established
fact that the visible supply of old leaf
in the hands of the packers is consider
! ably below the normal demands of the
manufacturing trade for the period
which must elapse before the new is
ready for the market. Even allowing
flor greatly curtailed demand, the pack
| ers state, there is no question of the
| fact that every available pound of
usable tobacco will be needed. One
prominent packer amplifed this gen
eral statement recently by the remark
| that, s'if the manufacturers had figured
on 80 per cent of the production OF 1871
| and 1921, not single case of tobacco
would be in the market at the present
! time. He admitted that some manu-
| facturers had overbought, but stated
that the majority had underbought and
must sooner or later come into the mar
ket to replenisb their already depleted
stocks. Another factor which tiers
t very materially into the explanation OF
the complaisant attitude of the packers
is found in the fact that buying of the
1920 crop has been confined so exclu-
sively to the binder sections, and that
the enormous filler crops of Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio are still in the hands OF
, the growers. Packers who have pur-
| chased the 1920 binders state that they
are by no means apprehensive over the
future of the binder market, notwith-
] standing the high prices paid. They
! contend that the binder shortage was
| never more acute than at the prpsent