

EXPERIMENTS IN RAISING SUMATRA TOBACCO. 



329 



In reply to an inquiry of the writer, the following letter was 

 received from the New York house of Sutter Brothers: 



NEW YORK, January 17, 1901. 

 MR. EDWARD H. JENKINS, New Haven. 



Dear sir: We are in receipt of your favor of the I5th inst, and in 

 reply would say that we submitted the tobacco to about four or five of 

 our largest customers who have been working Sumatra and Havana 

 seed, and all their reports are in favor of the experiment. They claim 

 that the goods are much finer than anything they have ever seen, and 

 call our especial attention to the Sumatra seed as being as fine in every 

 particular as the imported article. Our customers' letters were very 

 encouraging indeed, and they all express the wish that the experiment 

 be continued as it would be for the benefit of all concerned, especially 

 to the dealers and manufacturers, and of course to the smoking public 

 at large. We certainly trust that the experiment will be continued 

 next year, and if there is anything we can do to advance same we are 

 at your disposal. 



Yours respectfully, 



SUTTER BROS. 



No further evidence is required to demonstrate that, 



tobacco of the Sumatra type can be raised in Connecticut which is 

 equal in all respects to the average imported Sumatra. 



To determine whether this could or could not be done was the 

 object, and the only object of this experiment. 



It remains to be seen whether such tobacco can be eco- 

 nomically raised in Connecticut; raised on a considerable scale 

 at a profit. To determine these points will probably require 

 some years of experiment. 



We would strongly urge farmers not to undertake to raise 

 Sumatra tobacco under shade at present, in anything more than 

 a very small way, and purely as an experiment, which will not 

 seriously cripple them, even if it is a complete failure. 



The Station proposes to continue these experiments on a 

 somewhat larger scale so as to get some data to show the cost 

 of making the shade and of harvesting, and also to show the 

 yield of shaded Sumatra per acre. 



