[' ', 'to', 'grow,', 'and', 'the', 'decision', 'by', 'the', 'largest', 'cigarette', 'makers', 'to', 'bypass', 'traditional', 'auctions,', 'instead', 'contracting', 'directly', 'with', 'growers', 'for', 'their', 'leaf.', 'Richmond,', 'Va.-based', 'Philip', 'Morris', 'Co.,', 'the', "nation's", 'largest', 'cigarette', 'producer,', 'has', 'entered', 'contracts', 'for', 'more', 'than', '100', 'million', 'pounds', 'of', 'burley', 'this', 'year', 'and', 'for', '2', 'million', 'pounds', 'of', 'flue-cured', 'leaf.', 'R.J.', 'Reynolds', 'Tobacco', 'Co.', 'of', 'Winston-Salem,', 'the', 'No.', '2', 'producer,', 'now', 'has', 'flue-cured', 'contracts', 'with', '250', 'farmers,', 'though', 'company', 'officials', 'would', 'not', 'say', 'how', 'many', 'pounds', 'were', 'involved.', 'Big', 'Tobacco,', 'under', 'siege', 'by', 'multibillion-dollar', 'lawsuits,', 'says', 'it', 'needs', 'to', 'make', 'the', 'switch', 'to', 'make', 'American', 'leaf', 'more', 'competitive', 'with', 'tobacco', 'grown', 'overseas.', 'But', 'devotees', 'of', 'the', 'auction', 'system', "can't", 'help', 'wondering', 'that', 'something', 'good', 'is', 'being', 'irrevocably', 'lost.', 'Of', 'all', 'the', 'facets', 'of', 'the', 'tobacco', 'industry,', 'the', 'auction', 'has', 'the', 'most', 'pageantry', 'and', 'flavor.', "It's", 'a', 'tradition', 'that', 'stretches', 'back', 'to', '1619,', 'when', 'colonial', 'Virginia', 'promulgated', 'the', 'first', 'tobacco', 'inspection', 'act.', 'For', 'more', 'than', '150', 'years,', 'a', 'receipt', 'from', 'an', 'honest', 'tobacco', 'warehouseman', 'was', 'considered', 'a', 'dependable', 'form', 'of', 'currency.', 'Tobacco', 'companies', 'sponsored', 'radio', 'in', 'its', 'infancy.', 'The', "auctioneer's", 'call', 'of', '"Sold', 'American!"', 'became', 'part', 'of', 'the', 'national', 'lexicon.', 'Page', 'Roberts', 'of', 'Clarksville,', 'Va.,', 'remembers', 'when', 'the', 'dream', 'of', 'farm', 'boys', 'all', 'over', 'the', 'South,', 'himself', 'included,', 'was', 'to', 'become', 'a', 'tobacco', 'auctioneer.', 'His', 'father', 'was', 'an', 'auctioneer,', 'and', 'Roberts', 'learned', 'the', 'trade', 'during', 'Sunday', 'drives', 'in', 'the', 'countryside.', '"He\'d', 'say,', '‘Sing', 'out', 'from', '180', 'to', "185.'", 'And', "I'd", 'go,', "'One-eighty-four", 'American!', 'One-eighty-five', "American!'", '“', 'Roberts,', '69,', 'croons', 'in', 'a', 'lilting', 'Southern', 'accent.', '"He', 'said,', '‘Your', 'chant', 'will', 'come.', 'You', 'just', 'learn', 'to', 'be', 'plain', 'so', 'that', 'the', 'buyers', 'can', 'understand', 'what', "you're", 'saying."\'', 'Roberts,', 'who', 'retired', 'last', 'year', 'after', '45', 'years', 'calling', 'sales,', 'remembers', 'when', 'a', 'tobacco', 'auctioneer', 'was', 'a', 'minor', 'celebrity.', 'Roberts', 'was', 'sought', 'after', 'for', 'county', 'fairs', 'and', 'television', 'appearances,', 'especially', 'after', 'he', 'won', 'the', '1982', 'world', 'championship', 'sponsored', 'by', 'R.J.', 'Reynolds.', '"See,', 'as', 'a', 'really', 'good', 'auctioneer', 'you', 'attempted', 'to', 'create', 'an', 'excitement', 'about', 'the', 'sale,"', 'says', 'Roberts.', '"And', 'when', 'you', 'did', 'that,', 'you', 'got', 'the', 'buyers', 'involved', 'in', 'it,', 'tobacco', 'solid', 'good."', 'Opening', 'day', 'at', 'the', 'tobacco', 'markets', 'has', 'always', 'had', 'a', 'carnival', 'atmosphere,', 'the', 'kind', 'of', 'joy', 'that', 'comes', 'with', 'the', 'seasonal', 'return', 'of', 'friends', 'who', 'travel', 'the', 'circuits.', '"I', "don't", 'know', 'if', 'I', 'can', 'put', 'it', 'in', 'words.', 'But', 'if', "you've", 'ever', 'been', 'out', 'to', 'opening', 'day,', 'and', 'you', 'see', 'the', 'families', 'coming', 'in', 'with', 'their', 'kids,"', 'Wilson', 'says.', '"In', 'the', 'good', 'years,', 'you', 'can', 'see', 'it', 'in', 'the', "farmer's", 'eyes,', 'and', 'the', 'whole', "family's", 'eyes,', 'when', 'the', 'prices', 'are', 'good."', 'But', 'all', 'that', 'is', 'changing.', 'This', 'year,', 'many', 'farmers', 'at', "Winborne's", 'warehouse', "didn't", 'even', 'wait', 'to', 'watch', 'their', 'tobacco', 'sold.', 'There', 'is', 'an', 'overwhelming', 'sense', 'of', 'foreboding.', 'Wilson', 'says', "he's", 'spoken', 'with', 'several', 'warehousemen', 'who', "aren't", 'yet', 'sure', 'whether', "they'll", 'open', 'come', 'November.', 'That', 'has', 'sent', 'ripples', 'on', 'down', 'the', 'LLLO', '690€S', 'JRO000001025054065', '7', 'ODBD', '0011053', ' ']