144 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Mr. Walter G. Wilson, secretary of the Philadelphia 

 Cigar Leaf Tobacco Board of Trade, said : — 



The samples of tobacco grown in Connecticut, especially of 

 wrapper leaf, have been submitted to our board, and we are unani- 

 mously of the opinion that both in the Sumatra and domestic 

 grades that were produced these were the finest ever seen. The 

 Sumatra style, especially, was submitted to actual tests for burn, 

 yield and colors, and in every case far excelled the imported 

 article, while in the domestic grades the goods raised under govern- 

 ment direction were far above the best of those produced in the 

 ordinary way. 



I took personally the Sumatra end of the string, and gave several 

 hands to one of the largest cigar manufacturing firms in the city 

 of Philadelphia, and had them use them in the regular way to 

 make up their cigars as made regularly. They brought them over 

 to me, and upon inquiry they pronounced it, as Mr. Cullman has 

 said, superior to (imported) Sumatra tobacco, both in color, yield 

 and burn. The only criticism that might be made was that some 

 was a little green. The color had not been set, and it was right 

 out of the fermenting, but that would be remedied by simply a 

 little more time. 



Mr. Joseph F. Cullman, president of the New York 

 Tobacco Board of Trade, also stated that the samples of the 

 Sumatra leaf, grown under shade at Poquonock, were, in his 

 opinion, superior to the average imported Sumatra. 



Powell & Goldstein, to Avhom samples had been sent, 

 wrote : — 



Oneida, N. Y., Jan. 2, 1901. 

 Messrs. Sutter Brothers, New York. 



Gentlemen : — We have received the samples and have carefully 

 examined the same, and are more than pleased with the Sumatra 

 seed, as it is far superior in every way to the Habana seed, of 

 which you sent us samples. The leaf is much tougher, thinner, 

 finer grain ; the burn is excellent, and the tobacco shows good 

 quality. We think the tobacco is an exact counterpart of the 

 Sumatra grown on the Sumatra Islands, and we believe, if these 

 experiments would be continued by the government, still better 

 results could be obtained. We thank you very kindly for sub- 

 mitting the samples to us, as we are always trying to learn all we 

 can in regard to any improvements in tobaccos that are coming up. 

 Yours respectfully, Powell & Goldstein. 



