CIGARETTES POPULAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 222, 19 September 1928, Page 9

CIGARETTES POPULAR.

MORE SMOKING AMONG WOMEN. I . WORLD'S TOBACCO SUPPLY. ! PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND. ' I I "A rapid increase due undoubtedly tc I tie extension of the cigarette habit anc | to smoking on the part of women" is the way- in which the Imperial Economic Committee in its tobacco report for 1926 accounts for the fact that the annua! average consumption of tobacco in th« United Kingdom has increased from 2.4H per capita of the population in 1914 t< 3.41b per head in 1927. In one year, it is estimated, the world's total production oi tobacco was 4,900,000,0001b. The expansion of the world's consump tion of tobacco, the decline in the popu larity of the pipe relatively to the cigarette, tile striking increase in the demand for Empire tobacco, and the general recent improvements in its quality are among the main subjects discussed in th« report, which has just reached New

Zealand. Mr. C. Lowe, trie Government instructor in tobacco-growing in this Dominion, informed a representative of the "Auckland Star" on his return from th£ north recently t'tat, in his opinion, there is no limit to the possibilities of tobacco culture in New Zealand. "If we could build up an export trade and secure a market in England," declared Mr. Lowe, "we could grow 50.000 acres in this Dominion." In view of this declaration it is worth while noting the advice of the Imperial Committee that countries in'the Empire which have been considering the possi- ' bility of supplying tobacco to the United Kingdom in commercial quantities should ' assure themselves that not only have they an article likely to be acceptable to . the* British public, but that the supply of Empire tobacco is not for the time being 1 outrunning the gradual growth in the t demand. It is pointed out that in view of the established foreign supply, the introduction of new tobaccos must inevitably be a somewhat delicate business requiring careful adjustment. Production in Dominion. "Reference to the New . Zealand "Yeai Book shows that, whereas the acreagi under tobacco in t&s Dominion in 1925-(

was 150 acres, in 1926-7 it was 224 acres. Mr. Lowe said that the largest project which lie saw in North Auckland was that of the Hokianga Tobacco Growers' Association, which had seedlings flourishing in glasshouses sufficient for planting 200 acres. It would seem that,production is quite definitely on the increase.. In its review of the problems facing those responsible for the future of the still small but important Empire tobacco I trade, the Imperial Committee states that ,111192 L the Empire supplied 3.3 per cent of the leaf tobacco imported into the "United "Kingdom, -while in V&EI the figure had risen to 18'.4 per cent. It is estimated that 37 per cent of the pipe tobacco consumed in the United Kingdom in 1927 consisted of Empire t leaf, but only sightly over 1 per cent of [ the cigarette tobacco. Over 250 brands of Empire tobacco and 40 to 50 brands of : Empire cigarettes have been placed on ' the British market. J > A striking feature in the United Kingi dom has been the change in recent years ? from pipes to cigarettes. In 1907 cigarettes accounted for 23.8 per cent of the total, as against 71.1 per cent of pipe ' tobacco and 0.l per cent of cigars. In - 1924 cigarettes had risen to 58.5 per cent,

and pipes and cigars had fallen respectively to 40 per cent and 1.5 per cent. Pipe Smoking Decreases. "The evidence we have received from trade sources," the committee adds, "is to tlie eli'cct that the trend to cigarettc smoking has continued since 1924, aiid some witnesses considered that pipe tobaccos now account for only one-quartei of the consumption in the United Kingdom. It is, we think, probable that pipt tobacco does not now form more than 35 per cent of the total tobacco consumption of the United Kingdom." The advance of the cigarettc in populat favour in recent years is not confined tc the United Kingdom. Throughout Europe consumption now inclines towards cigarettes and the milder varieties oi pipe tobaccos. Even in Germany, where pipe tobaccc still predominates, a marked increase ir the consumption of cigarettes has taker place. In the United States, pipe anc chewing tobacco still is the greater part of the consumption, but the proportior ,of cigarettes is increasing. Even in India | the annual consumption of cigarettes ii | now about 6500 million as compared w'itl an annual figure of somewhat under 100( million pre-war. The cigarette is thus ai present advancing in world-wide favour ' but the consumption per head appears t<. be highest in the United Kingdom.