TOBACCO SHRINKAGE AND LOSSES IN WEIGHT 5 



Agriculture. This type classification differs slightly from the classi- 

 fication used by the Bureau of the Census. For example, the flue- 

 cured tobacco is subdivided into four types, the fire-cured of Ken- 

 tucky and Tennessee into three types, the Ohio cigar-filler into three 

 types, the Wisconsin cigar-binder into two types, and other changes 

 are made classifying tobacco on a type basis rather than a State 

 basis. 



APPLICATION OF CONVERSION FACTORS TO STOCKS OF LEAF TOBACCO 



The laws under which the Bureau of the Census and the Department 

 of Agriculture have collected and compiled statistics on stocks of leaf 

 tobacco required that the quantity of unstemmed leaf and stemmed 

 leaf be shown. The Bureau of the Census also required that tobacco 

 be reported either on an actual-weight or a marked-weight basis. In 

 arriving at the total quantity of any given type, marked and actual 

 weights were combined; also unstemmed and stemmed weights were 

 combined. The results in either case are misleading as no considera- 

 tion is given to shrinkage losses in storage, or to stemming losses. 



Statistics showing the stocks of leaf tobacco are important, not only 

 to the tobacco trade but to others interested in current and prospective 

 developments affecting tobacco growers, and they are necessary in 

 computations of annual consumption and disappearance of particular 

 types. Serious difficulties arise in making such computations, because 

 of the varied forms in which leaf-tobacco stocks are reported. 



To arrive at definite consumption figures, stocks should be converted 

 to a farm-sales-weight basis — the equivalent of the weight at the time 

 of sale by the grower — thereby making the figures of leaf-tobacco 

 stocks comparable with figures of leaf-tobacco production. The 

 stemmed leaf reported should be converted to an unstemmed basis, 

 taking into account the loss due to the removal of the stem. Then 

 adding this to the unstemmed leaf reported, the total should be con- 

 verted to a farm-sales-weight basis, taking into account the average 

 losses in handling and shrinkage. Stocks of the different types of 

 tobacco as reported to the Bureau of the Census and to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture have been converted on this basis and are shown 

 in tables 4 to 30, inclusive, of the Appendix. 



In the analysis of stocks it is important that consideration be given 

 to the normal movement of tobacco from growers' hands into the hands 

 of dealers and manufacturers. The marketing period varies with the 

 different types and will be treated in the separate type discussions. 



The average loss figures quoted in tables 1 and 2 are the result of a 

 study covering a period of several years. Questionnaires were mailed 

 to all manufacturers and dealers who file quarterly reports of stocks 

 of leaf tobacco. The average losses derived from a compilation of 

 these questionnaires were then carefully checked with the year-to-year 

 records of leading manufacturers and dealers throughout the United 

 States. 



PROGRESSIVE LOSSES AND CONVERSION FACTORS 



In obtaining average losses in weight where two or more methods of 

 handling are practiced, the loss resulting from each method of handling 

 was weighted by the approximate percentage of the crop so handled. 

 For example, in the case of flue-cured tobacco, in calculating conversion 

 factors consideration was given to the approximate percentage of the 



