196 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 193. 



Connecticut valley shade-grown tobacco is assorted into grades according 

 to color, texture and lengths.^ The chief colors are : — 



L No. 1, ........ . Light color. 



CL No. 2, Light color. 



LV No. 1, ........ . Light green. 



V, ......... . Full green. 



W, .......... Dark green. 



The texture is graded into light wrappers, medium wrappers and heavy 

 or dark wrappers. Sizes run from 9 to 22 inches, and are measured by the 

 inch. On an average there are about 60 grades and sizes to a crop, but 

 sometimes there are as many as 250 grades and ^izes. 



In an average year about 25 per cent of the Connecticut valley tobacco 

 crop goes for wrappers, Massachusetts and Connecticut producing a large 

 quantity of wrappers of high quality. About 50 per cent of the crop is 

 used for binders and 25 per cent for fillers. 



The grades of tobacco are determined by the quality and length of the 

 leaf. Those which are of fine texture, glossy, thin and silky make the best 

 wrappers. Leaves of poorer and heavier quality are used for binders, and 

 the short broken leaves are used for fillers. 



In the shade-grown industry the grades are not so carefully distinguished 

 there being many grades of slight variation. Therefore it is more difficult 

 to grade shade-grown tobacco. The determining qualities are about the 

 same as in the sun-grown. A very thin, silky leaf with open grain makes, 

 a high-priced wrapper. 



Pkices. 

 Supply and Demand. 



The price of tobacco is determined by the quality of the leaf and the 

 comparative demand for it. Overproduction of any special kind of tobacco 

 lowers prices, although this is not so marked as with some other products^ 

 because the keeping qualities of tobacco are good, and buyers frequently 

 purchase when the supply is plentiful and hold the product for manufac- 

 ture until there is a short crop. Tobacco two or three years old is better 

 than tobacco freslily packed and fermented. 



On the other hand, during a year of low production the demand will 

 exceed the supply, and prices are bound to rise. During 1916 and 1917 

 there was a great demand for all grades of tobacco, and consequently 

 prices were unusually high. Production did not increase sufficiently to 

 satisfy the larger population demand; moreover, the per capita consump- 

 tion of tobacco has likewise increased. The annual per capita consumption 

 of all forms of tobacco in the United States from 1863 to the present time 

 is presented below. 



' Some of the grades occurring in the crops assorted at the shop of Mr. Leslie Swift, North_ 

 Hatfield, Mass., during the sorting season of 1917-18, are as follows: — 

 L 18. L 11. LL No. 2 15. LV 15. V No. 1 16. V No. 2 16. 



L 16. . LL 20. LV 20. LV 14. V No. 2 20. V No. 2 15. 



L 12. LL No. 2 18. LV 16. MW 16. V No. 2 18. Broken 15. 



