TOBACCO GROWING

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20920, 29 July 1933, Page 16

TOBACCO GROWING

SUCCESSFUL TESTS. EXPERIENCE AT NEW HKHiIITON. In two or three weeks' time amateur tobacco growers will be sowing the seed for this year's crop. During the last few years, several mon in Canterbury have experimented in tobacco growing, and some have met with very satisfactory results. The soil at New Brighton a short distance back from the river apparently is well suited for tobacco growing. One grower there told a representative of " The Press " that he started a few years ago with very little technical knowledge of tobacco growing, and during that time, with the advice of experts, and thorough information, gathered from various text books, he had been able to improve each crop until now he had a tobacco, the standard of which was satisfactory in every detail. As an indication or the suitability of the soil. he said, his second crop included plants six feet high with leaves about 35J- inches long by 15 inches wide. These, however, had been fairly rank. Climatic Conditions. Climatic conditions played a large part in the successful growing of tobacco, this grower said. In Canterbury many difficulties had to be surmounted. Although the tobacco plant was hardier than either the tomato plant or the bean, one frost would very often ruin a whole crop just as the leaves were coming on to maturity. A dry atmosphere with a moderate rainfall was best for the plant, excessive moisture at any time having a detrimental effect, and sometimes resulting in the death of the plants. Another difficulty experienced in Canterbury were the nor'-westers. These often come at a time when the leaves, though not quite ready to be harvested, were in a fairly ripe condition, and the winds battered them almost to the extent of ruination. Quality Above Quantity. With the small grower, the main thing to remember was quality, not quantity. Therefore one had to consider the class, of land on which the plant was grown. The soil and its preparation were important factors. No definite rule could be laid down as to the number of leaves to be left to each plant, because of the season, the class of soil, the rainfall, and the progress of the plants, and also the ultimate class of production. Whether the leaf was to be a cigarette or pipe tobacco had all to be taken into consideration in deciding if the plant was to grow 10, 14. or more leaves, because the number of leaves determined the call on the plant: food, so that if, according to climatic conditions, the roots were expected to do too much work, the leaves would be immalir .• through lack of nourishment. Seventyfive well-grown plants would give 20!b of tobacco. Drying; and Curing. Great care had to be exercised in drying and curing the leaf, especially

, in seaside districts where the plants absorbed salt from the air, and made ■ curing difficult. i The grower explained why some , growers had difficulty in disposing of i their leaf. There were several grades j of tobacco, and before a manufactur- ! ing (inn would risk making a con- | tract, it must have an assurance that ; all the leaf should be uniform and of ' the same colour. Here the two methods of drying—kiln and air drying ' —came into the question. Whereas airdried tobacco took about five weeks I to dry, and when dry produced a brown coloured leaf, kiln-dried leaf took only five days, and resulted in ; a light golden leaf which was the kind i desired by manufacturers. Person- ! ally he was so satisfied with his pre- ' vious crops that he intended this year to build a kiln and plant an area of | eight acres, containing 1750 plants.