28 CIRCULAR 435, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN WISCONSIN, TYPES 54 AND 55 



Southern Wisconsin tobacco, type 54, is produced in south-central 

 Wisconsin. Edgerton and Janesville are two of the principal markets. 

 Northern Wisconsin, type 55, is produced in west-central Wisconsin 

 and east-central Minnesota. Viroqua and Chippewa Falls are two of 

 the principal markets. Although these two types are very similar in 

 general appearance and some grades are exactly comparable, a dis- 

 tinction is made in the trade on the basis of general quality. For the 

 last 5 years the average annual production of southern Wisconsin 

 tobacco has been about 16,500,000 pounds, and of northern Wisconsin 

 tobacco about 10,000,000 poimds. Although more than 60 percent 

 of these types is used for scrap chewing purposes, they are classified 

 as cigar-binder types. A much larger percentage of northern than of 

 southern Wisconsin tobacco is selected and used for binder purposes. 



Considering the types as a whole, the leaves of Wisconsin tobacco 

 are somewhat larger and coarser than of the binder types produced in 

 Connecticut. Wisconsin tobacco is stalk-cut and air-cured. It is 

 marketed by private sale at the farm of the grower or through a 

 growers' cooperative organization. These types are usually marketed 

 during the first quarter of the year. As a rule, the greater part of 

 the crop is out of the growers' hands by the 1st of April but some- 

 times, because of adverse weather, tne marketing period extends into 

 the second quarter. Only a limited amount of sorting is done by the 

 growers prior to delivery. They sort into two grades known as 

 wrappers and fillers. The so-called filler grades, usually known in 

 the trade as stemming, are used principally for scrap chewing. The 

 tobacco is delivered in paper-wrapped bundles ranging in weight 

 from 40 to 50 pounds. 



The packers sort and size the so-called wrapper grades and from 

 these select the leaves of binder quality. Most of the Wisconsin 

 binder grades are packed direct into cases after being sorted and 

 sized, but some are bulk-sweated for about 2 weeks before packing. 

 The initial loss in handling the better grades when the tobacco is 

 bulk-sweated ranges from 6 to 10 percent, averaging about 8 percent. 

 On such bulk-sweated tobacco the loss in weight during the first sweat, 

 after it is packed in cases until the following fall, averages about 7 

 percent. When packed direct into cases without bulk-sweating the 

 initial loss in handling and packing averages about 3 percent, but the 

 loss dining the first sweat is much higher, ranging from 10 to 15 

 percent, and averaging about 13 percent. The subsequent losses in 

 storage during the second and third years are about 2 and 1.5 percent, 

 respectively, regardless of whether the tobacco is bulk-sweated or 

 packed direct into cases. 



The stemming grades of Wisconsin tobacco are usually bulk- 

 sweated for about a year in the paper-wrapped bundles in which they 

 are delivered by the growers. Just before being stemmed the 

 tobacco is taken out of the bundles, the damaged tobacco is thrown 

 out, moisture is added, and it is rebulked and resweated for a short 

 period. The net yield on the stemming grades is somewhat lower 

 than the net yield on binder grades because of difference in the 

 sweating processes, and because more damage occurs from black rot 

 and mold. It is difficult to determine the losses in the progressive 

 steps of handling but the total loss averages nearly 20 percent. The 



