Evening star., 1946-05-22
.TobaccoA Auction
Sales Lag Due
follow Bids
Maryland Growers
Dissatisfied; Many
Recall Offerings

Upper Marlboro;s three tobacco
warehouses opened their annual
auctions today, which attracted
crowd estimated by police at 1000
persons.
Sales started slowly in the morn
ing, with prices which made most
growers dissatisfied and caused a
number to refuse to sell the crops
they had brought to the auction.
The tobacco in the three houses
totaled about 100000 pounds, of
Which no more than $4,000 pounds
had been sold by late morning. The
prices went from a low of 16 cents
a pound to high of 81 cents, with
an average of about 81 cents.
Average Below Ceiling.
The ceiling price last year, as set
by the OPA, was 81 cents and the
average about SIS or Sc cents.
Growers attributed the low bidding
not to any change in the quality of
their tobacco but to "an attempt to
knock the market down."
Charles Wyvill, whose 60-acre
farm just beyond Upper Marlboro
is one of the biggest in the area and
who raised 10000 pounds last year,
said he planned to withhold the
1000 pounds he had brought in
today.
Il believe I will wait for the Balti-
more markets to open," he said.
This Is some of the best tobacco
that has ever been grown in Mary
land and we can't earn a living with
prices like they've offered today"
The tobacco is bought by the bas-
ket, each of which contains from
l25 to 200 pounds. The baskets are
in long rows in the warehouses down
which the auctioneer goes with his
sing-song chant, followed by the
buyers and warehousemen, who
make their bids and purchases with
out stopping.
Operators of the warehouses
Hall Bros, Edelen Bros. and Plant
ers-.eStimated about 600 growers
were represented at the auction and
buyers fro mthe six major tobacco
companies.
May Shut Off Sales.
They said it was too soon to de-
eide whether the slow volume of
sales and low bidding would cause
them to close the auctions. At the
Hall Bros. warehouse, sales were
halted for about 20 minutes shortly
after the beginning of the auction
at 9 o'clock. However, when selling
resumed, little change was noted in
the bids.
The roads in Upper Marlboro and
by the warehouses were jammed
with automobiles as well as the
trucks carting away tobacco. Police
said they probably would use about
six books of parking tickets" in their
efforts to put a halt to parking on
the streets.
Three Sales Resumed.
Meanwhile, sales in four other
Southern Maryland tobacco ware
houses were resumed this morning
after auctions were halted in three
yesterday when farmers rejected
prices offered The fourth ware
house Cancelled its sale.
The Cancelled sale was at the
Southern Maryland Warehouse in
Hughesville, which refused to ac-
cept bids after learning of the low
prices at the neighboring Hughes
vile Warehouse Operations also
were suspended at the Waldorf
Warehouse and Edelen Bros, La
Plata.
The three warehouses closed their
doors after prices for medium and
loW-grade tobacco broke sharply
from those of last year, although
buyers had offered an average of
from 81 to So above the 1945 opening
Tor good grade of leaf.
100000 Pounds on Floor.
About 100000 pounds of tobacco
were on warehouse floors at Hughes
Vile, Waldorf and La Plata as sea-
son sales started.
Prices averaged Al cents a pound
at the Waldorf Warehouse-about
cents below last years fgure-while
Edelen Bros, at La Plata, reported
an average price of so cents. Officials
at the Hughesville Warehouse also
reported an average price of At
cents.
The high bids at the three ware
houses ranged from 81 to 64 cents
a pound and the low bids from Is
to 20 cents. The l945 ceiling price,
since removed, was 81 cents a pound
Officials at some of the ware
houses said they expected an in
creased demand for tobacco this
year IN view of the relatively small
crop-21, 100000 pounds as compared
with 100000 last year.