The daily times., 1922-01-10

smoking and plug tobacco and offer 1t
to the highest bidder among what
ever group of local buyers he could
get to. This is exactly parallel with
the present system of selling leaf to-
bacco."
The statement in his last sentence
is so erroneous that we are surprised
that a man of his intelligence should
have made it. 1t is just as surprising
that he should attempt to attribute
the prosperity Of certain California
counties to cooperative marketing
when he knows that the character of
. the product, fruits. more than the
plan brings the wealth.
He refers to>Canada and Maryland,
crop amounts to about 3O,OOO,OOOl
pounds annually; it is protected by
high import duty which has much
more to do with profit to the farmer
than any marketing plan could have.
. The Maryland crop is normally about
25 to 80 million-a peculiar and use
! full type of tobacco. It is. sold to buy
ers who submit bids in writing. The
! highest bid gets the tobacco, so even
/ here the buyer makes the price. OF
/ course the bid may be rejected just
as it may be and is often on auction
|ssale.
l. Not more Ahan one-third of the
Maryland crop is sold through the
cooperative marketing association
| the plan of selling the pooled .ad
free tobacco is exactly the same and
/ so are the prices obtained.
, The Kentucky pool is declared
I success and the statement is made
that the Auction System" of selling
tobacco is already done for in Ken
lucky. The fact is that, in Kentucky
I and the border states growing hurley
tobacco, more than score of mar
kets are now selling at auction mil
lions of pounds of tobacco each week
Much is made of the fact that the
Z same pile of tobacco does not always
= bring the same price and instances
are given of wide variations. Every
4 tobacco man will admit that this is
true and the owner has the right
to reject what he considers low bid.
J, While these errors in judgment or
: neglect on the part of buyer and ware
e houseman do occasionally occur, on
that same day about SO per cent of
q the tobacco is sold at uniform mar
e ket prices. There are other errors too,
/ when a buyer guesses pile too nigh
i and any one why has observed l auc-
: ton sales sees some lots that appear
: to be sold above the market; blu the
e farmer comes many times to market
II and has many different piles each
e time-he gets the occasional high
bid. the occasional low bid (Which he
rhas a. right to reject) and on the
o whole receives the average market
1T price The low bid errors are few, fol
10 whether you believe it or not, the in
'r dividual buyer is always watching
t. for the cheap pile. Instead of the
ID gamble being against the farmer
1T 100 to 1 as DR.. Poe says, the fact is
10 he will get uniform market prices
Y, 100 times to 1 agains. the glarins
10 errors mentioned. We challenge any
and find more than one pile Of far
10 mers' tobacco in each hundred tina
I'd | is sold far below the market How
r. ever, assuming that the cooperative
re association intends to grade th'
crops pooled, there will be just a
IN 20 ID +,
to SO called expert graders, which will
O. be costly to the farmer, than ther
n are now mistakes in Judgment on auc
lis tion sales If handled at all, there will
it certainly be times when large quan
cd titles would come to a receivin
house, and it is impossible to secur
n men so competent that no mistake
h will be made in grading. There is nc
ne a tobacco man living who would nc
occasionally put a pile too good in
,er lower grade, making: loss on ths
ITS pile to the farmer and a pile uEde
ly- standard would doubtless be squeeze
do into higher grade affecting qualit
he and the price of the extra grad
II There will be the human element
is error in grading just,.as there is
ar bidding. Time for defiberatfon wi
sfitj not help-every good tobacco ma
ust will tell you that buyers first in
uit preston, when he makes d fair e.
on animation Of a pile, is always his be
m decision; if he de!iberates ar
ed. changes his mind, the last guess
ac- usually WrQng.@
lrs - Nnw LET'S see about grading: Tai