OUR OWN TOBACCO.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 545, 28 June 1909, Page 6

OUR OWN TOBACCO.

CAN WE CROW IT PROFITABLY? EXPERT OPINIONS SAT: "YES." ' (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.} - - : Auckland, June 26. > Not only can, it, be said that; many considerataoM point to the suitability of New Zealand as a tobacco-growing country, but it can also be asserted that experiments made in widely-separated parts of,the Dominion have placed the matter beyond doubt. In order to gain some information as to the results that have been achieved, a reporter waited on Mr. Austin Walsh, who has been associated with soveral, attempts to foster tho cultivation of tobacco in New Zealand. , ' v ..■••''-.'• W« Can Crow It Everywhere Mr.i Walsh stated that very fine tobacco had been < grown in Now Zealand, and .■■-' he was convinced that, if the cultivation of the plant were undertaken in a business-dike way, large quantities of leaf, highly suitable, for manufacture into cigarettes and pipe tobacco, could be produoed. The country was hardly so well adapted to the production of cigar tobacco, because cigar tobacco had to be enred by natural'heat; and only the extreme north appeared.to be suitable. The olimate there was suitable, however, and cigar tobacco could be grown if desired, while cigarette and pipe tobacco could be grown all over.the Dominion—even on very poor soil, which was suitable for the.aromatic variety, for which there was now a great demand.' The bettor the soil,the heav-. ler the tobacco, and ..good heavy varieties had been grown at Opotiki and Tauranga. "Connecticut" and "Virginia" had done well at Mangero, and tobacco had been grown as far south as Oamaru,' Timaru, and Queenstowh; ' , ,',..' . The Money In It. ■- In reply to a query as to the value of tho tobacco crop to the farmer, Mr. Walsh stated that.Boolb. or 9001b. of cured leaf of the brighter Virginiane, which were eminently suitable for cigarette-making, could bo produced from an acre of land each year, and 12001b. of the heavier varieties, such as "Kentucky" 'and "Connecticut." The value of. an. acre's crop might bo set down, at the present time, at from £35 to £40, and the labour cost, v from sowing time till' the leaf waa"cured,' was not more tban'£lo jper acre. In tho season 1887-88 'the factory with'which he ■ was- once connected in Auckland received 13,2941b. of locallyrgrpwn /tobacco., It was employing over seventy hands,- and there was, every prospect of a flourishing industry being built up .when the alteration of- the tariff made operations'unprofitable.' How tho Industry Could be Worked Up. 'Mr.H. E..Partridge,'.'of the firm of H. E. Partridgo and Co., also expressed his conviction that tobacco cohld .be successfully grown in New: Zealand from north to south. Ho believed that, had the Government given it proper ' encouragement, the industry : in New Zealand would'now have been as flourishing, as it is in. Australia,-where 60 per cent, of the tobacco used in New Zealand is now manufactured. "The tobacco industry," said Mr. Partridge,_ "creates a'considorable .demand for.-tinsmiths, and.''.'other classes of, labour.. For 700 or 800 men. em-: ployed- in- a factory, employment would .be created for-2000 hands outside! It would be a particularly valuable industry for the country, because it was eminently statable for small farmers. There is a-strcrngfoeling amongst thoso who realise the possibilities 'of New Zealand as a tobacco-growing country that something should bo done by the Government to pve the industry a footing. The proposals which are variously made, to foster the industry may be summarised as follow:—(1) That the .Government should appoint an export to : teach farmers how. to handle the- plant, .and 'should .conduct; ox-" perim'ents at.the State'.farms for. the,benefit of cultivators and curors; (2) .that .the' duty on imported leaf should be lowered,' at least temporarily,; (3) that the. excise on machinemade'-, cigarettes should bo'lowered , to.' the level of that on .hand-made' tobacco; (4) that ;.extra ■ duty Bhould-be:; placed, on .tobaccos of all descriptions: coming in in. tins, and fancy packets : (5); that a bonus., should bo,given on all tobacco exported.