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- Wisconsin's first commercial tobacco
was raised in Dane and Rock counties
- by cousins Orrin and Ralph POMEROY
in 1854. Grown as a cash crop to supplement dairy income, Wisconsin
tobacco is used as a binder in making cigars. Because of the
large amount of hand labor, the areas planted are small, usually
two to five acres. In late April the seed is sown in the steam-fertilized
soil of long white muslin-covered seed beds, and transplanting
to the field is done by machine in June. The plants are cut and
speared on a lath in August and are hung in the long unpainted
sheds to cure for two to three months. "Case weather"
(fog or rain) in late fall conditions the leaf so that it can
be stripped from the stalks and baled for market. About 100 miles
to the northwest, in Vernon and surrounding counties, tobacco
production began in the 1880s and is an important crop today.
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- Erected 1961
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