Tobacco

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 2, 31 January 1944, Page 3

Tobacco

SMALL NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRIES (2)

er a huh staff IfßirU

There is a monument to the tobacco industry in the Marlborough district. It is a kiln for the drying of tobacco-leaf standing starkly out of place in the onion-fields of Grovetown as an ever-present reminder to would-be tobacco-growers in the district that “ It can’t happen here.”

During the depression one Grovetown farmer decided to plant tobacco on land that had previously been used for grain and seed crops. The reason for his decision lay in the firm tobacco market which was enabling Nelson growers to weather the economic storm. It was difficult to find a paying market for his previous produce. His soil was good. The Nelson and Marlborough climates w ere similar enough to allow a reasonable hope that tobacco could be grown successfully in Grovetown.

So he realized on some of his dwindling assets, swotted up the detail from the experience of Nelson growers, built his kiln to approved specifications, and planted his crop. It grew magnificently. It was 6 ft. high in no time, then 7 ft., then 8. The difficulty was that it would not stop growing; neither would it ripen; and when, in desperation, the farmer picked some green leaf and kilndried it the result was ample and conclusive proof that Grovetown soil was not tobacco soil.

Yet just over too miles away around Motueka tobacco-growers are producing about half the leaf used in tobaccomanufacture in New Zealand to-day. To their success and Grovetown’s failure the “ good earth ” holds the key. Tobacco prefers a slightly acid soil ; light sandy soils and sandy loams. Marl-

borough soil in that locality was too rich, and this, coupled with slight differences in climate, meant disaster for Grovetown growers.

Thus there are no monuments to the tobacco industry around Nelson. The Motueka-Umukuri-Riwaka kilns are packed each season with golden leaf, which, when dried and cured, helps to fill the “ tailor-mades ” or roll-your-owns smoked by serviceman and civilian. Whatever may be your brand, a large proportion of New Zealand leaf is adding to your smoking enjoyment. Over 3,000 acres of Tobacco New Zealand tobacco was first grown from Virginian seed in the Nelson district in 1927. To-day there are over 3,000 acres planted in tobacco in that area. The crop is grown under contract to the manufacturing firms, who must pay an average price of is. lojd. per pound for the total quantity they purchase. Individual growers may receive more or less than this minimum average according to the quality of their leaf, but purchasers cannot go below is. 2d. per pound. Fine-quality leaf will fetch up to 3s. 6d. per pound. A good average yield is 1,000 lb. of leaf per acre, which means about £IOO

an acre to the grower —a splendid return from land which was previously in poor pasture supporting few stock. Production-costs are comparatively heavy because of the amount of labour involved in cultivating the crop and the quality of fertilizer used. But Motueka growers would be the first to admit that the development of the tobacco industry in their district has been a considerable

financial boon to them.

Raising the Plants

The tobacco-seed is planted in hothouses during August. By October it is ready for replanting to the seedling beds, and by November is strong enough for the open fields. All the seed necessary is grown in the district, but the farmers rarelv grow plants from seed themselves. They prefer to buy the seedlings from local nurseries at the not exorbitant price of 4s. per box of 1,500.

In the tobacco fields shallow furrows are ploughed about 3 ft. 6 in. apart and into these furrows fertilizer is drilled. The furrow is then closed and the seedlings planted by hand about 2 ft.

apart. An average of 8 cwt. of fertilizer per acre is used, half being drilled in at the time of planting and half scattered by hand during the growth of the plant.

The hardest work is cultivating the growing crop. It must be intercultivated three to five times before harvest and hand-hoed three times. Average rainfall is necessary up to the end of January, but the plant will not flourish in damp ground. It grows as a long stalk, commences to flower when about 4 ft. 6 in. high, and is between 5 ft. and 7 ft. high in February, when picking is commenced. Not exactly slow growth —7 ft. in less than four months !

The Harvest

At harvest time the leaves are picked from the bottom of the stalk first and only two or three of the ripest leaves are taken from each plant at a time. The pickers take only the yellowing leaves and, as each plant has twelve to fourteen leaves and the ripening process is a gradual one, the picking of the leaf goes on until mid-April.

The harvested leaves are packed into bins and taken to sheds, where girls tie the leaves in bundles of two or three. Each bundle is tied at the top and hung over a 4 ft. 6 in. manuka stick so that each leaf hangs freely. When thirty-six bundles have been placed on the stick it is taken to the kiln and packed in on racks beginning at the top of the kiln and working downwards. Each kiln holds 700-750 sticks.

The furnaces are next fired, and for two days a current of air about 85° to 95 0 F. in temperature circulates through the kiln. During this yellowing process the vents at the top of the kiln are closed and the leaf is kept alive. The process turns the starches in the leaf to sugars.

Next the vents are opened and the temperature raised by gradual steps to 175 0 F. while the leaf is dried to a brittle, bright yellow. The whole kiln process may take four to seven days, depending on the ripeness of the leaf.

The dried leaf cannot be immediately handled. It is so crisp that it would break when touched. Some of the moisture that has been extracted must, therefore, be put back before the leaf is taken from the kiln to be bulked and graded. A nice sea breeze will do the job in a few hours if the vents and doors of the kiln are opened. Otherwise it may be necessary to lay wet sacks on the floor of the kiln.

Grading

The leaf is hand-graded by expert girls. First in determining the quality of the leaf comes its position on the stalk. Except for the leaves nearest the ground, which because of their contact with the earth are usually burnt and damaged, the standard of the leaf deteriorates as it nears the top of the plant. Next in importance is the colour of the leaf, with yellow as the most desirable colour, followed by orange, light and dark brown, then green. At the same

time is considered the texture of the leaf, a fine-textured leaf being more valuable than a heavy one.

The girls then tie the graded leaves in bundles of about sixteen to eighteen leaves. These “ hands ” are then packed into boxes lined with sacking for delivery to the manufacturers.

Several miles from Motueka is a station devoted to research into tobacco-growing. Controlled by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research it was established five years ago and, in conjunction with the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, has conducted the research experiments necessary to protect the growers and ensure a healthy, economic crop.

The station covers about 17 acres, most of this area being devoted to experimental plots and seed-beds. There are thirteen experiments at present being conducted on the farm and each experiment has thirty- two plots of approximately 180 plants. These experiments are mainly concerned with the quality and type of fertilizer to be used since fertilizer can be described as the life’s blood of the tobacco-plant. In the different plots varying quantities and mixtures of fertilizer are applied at different times to determine which method produces the best results. Mixtures of superphosphate, nitrogen, potash, ammonia, and blood have been found most beneficial, while, to provide humus, oats are sometimes grown after the crop is harvested and ploughed in before the next planting. This year a Canadian experiment using rye-corn instead of oats is being tested.

The station harvests and uses its own seed by bagging the heads of the plants after they have flowered.

There is also a hothouse and seed-beds for cultivation of the seedlings. Most of the laboratory work is done at the Cawthron Institute. The tobacco grown on the station is dried in three large kilns, which are heated by automatic furnaces.

Over the gate leading into one of the experiment paddocks is a notice “No Smoking.” It is not intended to be humorous. The foreman, who was en-

gaged in scattering fertilizer, explained that the only disease that had troubled Nelson tobacco plants (and then not unduly) -was tobacco mosaic. This virus is transferable by hand, and if it happened to be present in the tobacco a visitor was smoking and handling, and he were to touch a plant, that plant would be immediately infected with the disease.

He illustrated his argument by an experiment conducted recently by the station. Before planting an experimental plot he had deliberately handled a plant affected with mosaic. After planting one row he washed his hands and planted another row. He then handled the affected plant and planted another row before again washing his hands.

The plants in every row planted after handling the diseased plant were themselves affected. The alternate rows were strong and healthy.

The Research Officer, Mr. R. Thompson, who was trained for this work in America, confirmed this story when he was detailing the precautions that must be taken against diseases harmful to the crop. So far Motueka growers have been reasonably free from such worries and their immunity has been largely the result of painstaking experiment and gratuitous advice from the Research Station and Cawthron Institute. Though “ No Smoking ” may be the order of the day in some areas around Motueka, that precaution is helping to ensure an adequate supply of yellow, fragrant leaf in other parts of New Zealand and to safeguard the already promising future of the tobacco industry in the Dominion.