TOBACCO HARVEST

Hokitika Guardian, 8 March 1933, Page 8

TOBACCO HARVEST

LARGE NELSON CROP

RECORD OUTPUT THIS SEASON

NELSON, March 4. The harvesting of the tobacco crop hag started, iiv the Motueka district, where mo-st- of the growers of the Nelson Province are located. Commercial i growing commenced in 1914 under stimulus from the Napier Manufacturing Company. Soil and - climate "proving suitable and the farmers, already skilled in hop and fruit-growing. ; readJy mastering tlie fine points of this exacting business, there, was steady expansion of the industry, and by the 1925-26 season the area, planted had reached 1000 acres. Experiments in tlie production of .flue-cured leaf proving, successful, the Wills Arm made arrangements whereby 0- number of growers were enabled to erect curing barns and bulking sheds: to deal with the crop of 200 or 300 acres. The. following year the acreage was doubled, the number of barns being increased from 20 to nearly 50. Experience led to some of the growers' who had too heavy soil being cut out of. the contract, but there has - been steady expansion, there beiiig no>v about 700 growers, with 130 'curing barns, '’planting 2500 acres under contract for flue* : cured leaf. t ‘. ‘ ' YIELD OF 2,000,0001 b. The total yield this year is estimated to reach 2,000,0001 b., apart from •some production net' contracted for. j As tc'future expansion, one authority expressed'.the opinion that until the time arrives to cultivate for an export market, and this has been satisfactorily’tested, it Will not be advisable to grow for a speculative demand. It is stated, however; thab so far none of the leaf .'exported has been of the best, hub hopes are "entertained < for •a- de‘.miind for quality leaf, especially in vie'W of the preferential tariff the British Government has granted to the Empire article. From information gathered there-is no doubt that si'majority of the growers are making a first-class job of growing and curing.' The appearance I of the 'fields is a credit to them and | the district. V The system ' followed in Nelson, where the summer is short in com.'parison with, that of some of the great tobacco-producing countries, is tbjgermina'te’ tjie seed under glass, the seedlings then being pricked , out, arid ■ in from four tb'fiVe' weeks frb'm the tjtne of.'sowing are planted out in the fields, ■ eultivht'bfs’ being kept' going - until there is no "room for ! a horse to move. : Thereafter-tbd hoe'is used; but if the ground harb’beeri thoroughly prepared and if in fine- tilth at the time of planting; the amount of cultivation is I reduced. Under good weather condi:tions: the crop is' harvested three : mouths ‘'fifter" f Sbw irig, bfit I 'iff’this priri- ! od a great’d’bal of’labour is'necessary. RETURN PER ACRE. Thieted . avevage yield per acre is 'IOOOI b, although in gome favourable Spots it vetches 15001 bto lOOClb: A" cron of 10001 b would return at contract'' rates £7O to £IOO gross. The cost ’of production per, acre is about £4O "trj £SO, mostly, spent in' labour. ' The best returns are' . made • by men handling limited areas, which is a s'tlbrfg against mass production'' %i eth cd s. As in the Uni- > tied StateS,' Canada and South Africa, it is being' 'proved that the industry in undoubtedly ‘one Tor thet small ! Holder. ' IK ‘‘ . ■ ' ’ ■ ""The- most suitable type of soil for tobacco 'iS 'Tight and silky, which in Nelson is"'found oh fiver batiks r a.nd in small valleys. Lr.nd that is too : rifcli with contents’ that/keep the plant’ growing'too long is not suitable for siribkirig lefif. ’ A great' asset •in ‘‘ the. Nelson district is the protection tlie hills afford "from the'southerly"winds.' Protection' from wind seems more im--1 p'orit ant than rainfall for tobacco, ' which is a-ri air-feeding plant* that : absorbs moisture from the Sir.' One of' tlie reasons for the air of ' prosperity Still evident in Motueka and : Tfikalca- is' the tobacco industry, which this year ' expects to have a total gross return of £200,000. Apart from the creation of employment, the industry has stifiMated'' ’ business : tiirbugh tlie erection of curing barns arid in many other ways.