364 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Piil). Doc. 



case, so as to allow the steam to escape freely while in the 

 sweat. Each case is numbered and marked with the weight 

 and tare, and placed upon the side to sweat, which will re- 

 quire from six to nine months l^efore being ready for the 

 manufacturer to work. 



Marketing and Markets. 



I have said that, as the markets now are, perhaps the 

 wisest course for the grower is to sell to the packer in the 

 bundle previous to assorting ; l)ut right here comes in a diffi- 

 culty. The packer cannot assort the whole of the crop for 

 lack of room for a sufficient amount of help, as a man can 

 assort properly only from 100 to 150 pounds per day, and 

 so the grower is often obliged to assort his crop. The mar- 

 keting of tobacco is very different to-day from what it was 

 a few years ago. Before the imposition of a government 

 tax upon cigars and manufacturers there was a large number 

 of small factories where growers could sell their crops with- 

 out the aid of the dealer or packer. To-day but few small 

 shops are in existence. They have been run out by the 

 larger concerns, who buy onl}^ of dealers and in large quan- 

 tities, and only the grade they then desire, whether wrap- 

 pers or binders. 



Another and by far the worst drawback to the New 

 England leaf grower is the competition of Sumatra tobacco, 

 grown on one of the East India islands by a Dutch syndi- 

 cate, which employs coolie laborers at a few cents per day, 

 and raises a leaf that has the merit of being very fine and 

 of good color, three or four pounds of which will wrap a 

 thousand cigars, whereas it will take from three to twelve 

 pounds of our production to wrap the same number. The 

 only redeeming thing al)out it is its looks. At present the 

 duty is $2 per pound, which enables the growers of domes- 

 tic leaf to compete successfully with their cheap labor and 

 make living wages. The present movement to reduce the 

 duty upon this leaf can have but one result, if successful, 

 viz., to drive the New England grower out of the market, 

 and ruin this great industry we have spent so much time and 

 money to develop. 



