By the early 1880's farmers were becoming increas- 

 ingly aware that a green thumb was not invariably de- 

 pendable. Science was being utilized on an increasing 

 scale and studies were being made of fertilizers, soils 

 and leaf quahty. All this was to have a valuable eflFect 

 on crop management. 



JLroplcal Intruder 



Excellent as the wrapper leaf of Connecticut was, it 

 soon faced a dangerous foreign competitor. European 

 manufacturers had for some time been using Sumatran 

 wrappers for cigars. Only two pounds of it was required 

 to cover a thousand cigars of regular size as against 

 five to ten pounds of Connecticut leaf. The East Indies 

 product was practically unknown in the States until a 

 sample shipment of this light-colored, finely textured 

 leaf of bland flavor came to the attention of New York 

 manufacturers around 1876. 



Increasing orders went out for Sumatran tobacco, 

 which was imported as filler on which the duty was 

 lower than on wrapper. Alarmed farmers in the Con- 

 necticut and Housatonic Valleys formed the New Eng- 

 land Tobacco Growers Association in 1883. This organi- 

 zation persuaded the Congress to increase the duty from 

 35 cents to 75 cents a pound. As this had no apparent 

 effect on curbing imports, the tariff went to $2.00 in 1890. 

 It was reduced in 1894 to $1.50 for three years; then it 

 went to $1.85. The successive duties did not have the 

 hoped-for result. Five million pounds of leaf came in 

 from Sumatra in 1900, and imports were increased as 

 domestic cigar consumption rose. 



41 



