“Probably the amount invested in tobacco in the early fifties did not exceed five thousand dollars per annum, while, at the present time, at least five hundred thousand dollars is used annually buying and packing it. No crop grown by the farmer requires such constant attention. From the sowing in April, through the transplantation in June, until the matured plant is harvested and placed in the curing sheds in August and September the greatest care must be exercised. ‘Eternal vigilance’ is the price of success, and a sharp hailstorm of a few minutes’ duration may destroy the results of the summer’s labor. During the early fall the plants are taken from the poles, the leaves are stripped from the stalks and packed in bundles, and the tobacco is then ready for the buyer. “It is probable that tobacco was first assorted and packed in New Milford in 1848 by George McMahon, who was followed, a few years later, by Perry Hall. These men were the first packers in the Housatonic Valley. Space will not permit mention of the parties who have been engaged in the business since that time. At present, it is one of the leading industries of the town. There are twelve tobacco warehouses, employing through the packing season in the neighborhood of four hundred men. “Most of the capital needed to pack the tobacco is furnished by the large tobacco jobbing firms of New York and Chicago, who employ local men as buyers and packers. “The crop as a whole is an important source of wealth to the farmers, as is evidenced by the many thrifty and beautiful homes of the successful tobacco growers scattered over the hills and valleys of New Milford.” There are some notable manufacturing industries in this town. The manufacture of wool hats here dates back nearly a century. Glover Sanford began making them in 1823, on a small scale, in Bridgewater Society. The business steadily increased and was carried on by himself and brothers till 1870, when the firm removed to Bridgeport, Conn. Smith & Erwin opened a hat factory in Bridgewater in 1834, and removed to this village in 1855, occupying the long building now used as a store by the firm of Ackley, Hatch & Marsh. Isaac Reynolds began hat manufacturing in Bridgewater in 1847, afterwards removing to Lanesville. Joseph Sanford, Lyman B. Stone, and Francis Callahan engaged in the business at different times. A company was organized there in 1853 under the name of the Union Manufacturing Company.