The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1920-01-16
Wisconsin Tobacco Market
EDGERToN, WIS, Jan. Is, 1920.

lne cleanup tlVlCy cOnC1DueS In
the northern market, according TO the
Vernon County Censor, and the prices
are stable. Viroqua and Westby and
other northern receiving points have
had more tobacco delivered than the
market dared to expect, the protracted
cold weather considered. 1t seems that
the brief periods of soft weather which
touched Wisconsin during December
moistened the leaf in the sheds more
amply than appeared to the touch.
Where there was small acreage on
each farm, as is the case in the north
ern valleys, the tobacco showed good
lease" as soon as it was warmed up IN
the stripping room. Where growers
had large acreage, only part OF the
crop could be taken down, and conse-
quently deliveries in the southern Sec
tion have been confined to such por-
tions of the crop as the farmers could
handle in such rooms as were available
for warming up, previous to stripping.
In this manner the tobacco is coming
into the southern asserting centers
more or less in dabs. Enough has been
coming during the past two weeks,
however, to keep the hands busy, some
warehouses having even increased the
number of assorters over that of a
week ago.
Bulk sweating of the assorted leaf is
becoming more and more general. By
this method the fermentation is not
only speeded up, but the chance to con-
troll the progress and nature of it and
to avoid the dangers besetting the to-
bacco at this critical period is greater,
as the packer by this method of handl-
ing knows more definitely at all stages
of the game what is going on in his
packing. The handling of the leaf in
the warehouse is not hit-or-miss af-
fair: the intelligent packer is using bis
brains to govern and direct the pro-
cesses of nature and make them serve
the end he is seeking to attain. Brains
together with experience, carefully
kept records and lot of hard and
patient work along the whole line, are
the elements of success in the tobacco
industry, as in every other industry.
The farmer who has exercised every
care to put good crop into the hands
Of the packer, remembers that the.
packers part of the preparation of
this crop for the manufacturer is one
half of the chance to lift it to the level
of a profitable price, and to keep it
there in. the future, both for the grow
er and the packer. Individual packers,
as well as growers associations who
pack their own tobacco, do well to bear
this in mind; tobacco diseases, like
other diseases, are easier to prevent
than they are to cure.
NEW YORK, Jan. 2, 1920.
The closing week of 1919 has devel-
Oped nothing of particular market in
terest beyond the fact that an unusual
" active demand for all desirable types
Of cigar leaf continues at time which
ia normally extremely inactive. 1t is
commonly agreed that Water Streets
inventory of the year just closed will
show most gratifying results, and that
in spite of the perplexing drawbacks
which the year developed, the year has
been one of the most profitable in the
history of the Water Street market.
The farmers are satisfied because
they have disposed of the bulk of their
holdings at prices which can not be
otherwise than satisfactory. There
fore, it is logical to assume that the
tobacco acreage in 1920 will, on the
whole, be considerably increased. Since
this is most definitely indicated in the
binder states and since the existing
binder shortage is one Of the most per-
picking problems which the trade is
facing at the present time, this may be
regarded as most fortunate circum-
stance. Leaf.