The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1922-09-01

NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


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In last weeks issue mention was
made of a steel frame work for a to-
bacco bed invented by Neal Mason of
the town of Albion. The work con-
nected with the making of frames,
stakes and fitting canvass for tobacco
beds each spring is tedious and takes
considerable time. Mr.. Mason as an
| experienced tobacco grower h a S
thought out way to get away from
the loss of time in building the bed
| frames. The new device is quickly
put up, will last life time, and can
be stored after use in very little
| space. The units consist of two end
pieces and center piece made of
angle iron, bent into shape to form
| the upright frame work to take the
canvass. The ends are sharpened to
be run into the ground. The end
frames are made of galvanized sheet
iron. After the frames are raised, all
that is needed is to slip the side board
| into clamped places at the bottom of
| the frame sections. When this is
done the frame is ready for the cam
vass as in the old way, the peak of
the bed frame having a wire, or rod
running the length of the bed holding
/ the canvas up in proper distance from
| the ground. If the first unit is bought,
all a man needs after that is center
pieces at each 10 or II feet, or what
ever length boards are used for the
| sides. The units will cost $500 and
each additional center costs $1.50.
Mr.. Mason brought one of the units
to the Reporter Office, and the thing
looks practical enough to appeal to
any grower of tobacco.
l ***
| While the statement of Mr. Nord-
man of the Marketing Department
that 80 per cent of the Wisconsin to-
bacco acreage has been covered by the
pool contract must be taken as official
and, therefore, reliable, it would set
at rest all discussion for and against
this report if a tabulation of the acre
| age in each of the sixteen pool dis
bacco is grown, could be published.
The advance reports printed during
the pooling campaign were so mani
festly the result of guess work that
| confidence in such method of giving
out information is lost with the pub
| lie. The sooner all surmises as to
lWhat the actual results of the move
n1ent can be dispelled and the true
facts placed before the public, the
better for the pool. The department
| must by this time have all reports
! from the different pooling agents in
it's possession with a tabulation of
the results completed. The growers
who have signed the contract wish to
know the results, and the public at
large is intensely interested in find
| ing out just how well the big under
| taking has succeeded. The Wisconsin
Tobacco Reporter, the only paper in
the state making it business to
keep its readers informed in large
way about tobacco culture and the
| movements on foot in the tobacco in
dustry in the state, is anxious to give
| to its readers the truth, and to give
| it at the earliest possible date. The
Reporter has refrained from making
| statements as to the percentage of
| acreage signed up with the pool, ex-
| cept the one given out by Mr.. Nord-
| man to the pool convention. 1t is the
| policy of the Reporter to give out in
it's tobacco columns as facts only
such information as it has found to
be reliable whether it concerns the
crop conditions, the prices prevailing,
| the market outlook, or the affairs Of
the pool, and we believe that the pool
and the public would at this time be
! best served by having the particulars
showing how the 80 per cent in the
pool are distributed throughout the
growing sections. The matter is big
| enough to interest the entire tobacco
industry.
] The presence of disease in the to-
bacco fields this year should warn the
growers of what may come next year.
In the first place the selection of seed
should be made from fields or plots
where no disease appeared this sum-
mer. Aside from choosing the right
| type of seed in order to obtain leaf
| which represents the best strains Of
cigar tobacco, the additional care of
a seed raised on plants free from
! disease is a precaution of some i'm
/ portance. The health and life of the
plant is undoubtedly best taken care
of in the seed bed. The steaming of
the ground is now practiced by
nearly all growers, but the spraying
of the plants while growing in the
bed with anti-disease solutions may
be found to be imperative in order to
be sure of putting only healthy plants
into the field. That is the method
followed in the growing areas where
wildfre has invaded the tobacco
/ fields. 1t is too costly, and may be
too late to remedy the trouble after
| the plant is growing in the field. The
time and expense of keeping the
plants free from infection in the bed
| is negligible in comparison. The
| u. w. experiment station will un-
doubtedly at the proper time advise
| the growers of the solution best
! suited for use in the plant beds, and
how to use it. In Connecticut some
growers have sprayed as often as
twice a week to rid the beds of the
pest of wildfire.