THE NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITION.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 827, 16 February 1867, Page 3

THE NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITION.

(Prom the Australasian.)

OUK EXHIBITS OP TOBACCO.

The manufacturers of this important article of commerce connected with Melbourne, are exhibiting their specimens of skill in the most southern parfc of /fche great hall, and on tlie left of the entrance to the , picture-room. The space occupied is not very large ; at the same time the exhibits represent so important an industry that it is almost impossible for anyone feeling an interest iv Victoria and her products to pass without a word of comment. Almost every variety of leaf is here exposed to the eye — from the delicate plant, the produce of Turkey, to the more commonly used leaf of Virginia and Cuba. It has been calculated by our manufacturers thafc they could : make up in plugs, figs, and cigars, with their present command of machinery, quite 100 tons per annum ; yefc last year not a fifth of that quantity came into their hands. The leaf grown in Victoria the last two seasons has been in consequence of the drought, of a very trifling amount. Some was produced at Buninyong, more at Albury, and some few splendid parcels in Gipps Laud; bufc these were exceptions. Where a ton was expected a hundredweight . was harvested. We trust that this season, ! should the caterpillars and other enemies be lenient, our colony will find herself less dependent upon foreign supply for that article which she has satisfactorily proved can be produced equal in quality to that of any climate in the world. We shall presently draw notice to leaves which our readers can inspect, and we feel sure our opinion will be confirmed. The first case of exhibits which came under our notice >vas that of W. G. Tobleman, Melbourne, •who, if not an extensive manufacturer has filled his case with a collection of well-made * cigars, but nothing else, nor are we advised whether the leaf is native-born or imported. Before we go any further, we may mention that ifc struck us that the many exhibitors not of ttobacco only, would advance their interests most materially were they to affix ' the prices of their exhibits upou the various j articles. Messrs. Moss, White, and Co., Queen-street have really a display of as good cigars as, in our opinion, can possibly be made. They are evidently true to name, made from imported Havannah leaf. We would wish to have more closely examined them, but we are quite satisfied that both "fillers and wrappers" are sound and pure Havannah leaf. A few bundles of assorted leaf are so suspended above the case, showing the distinctive differences between the German, American, ancl Cuban leaf. The exhibits of Messrs. Politz and Co., of the well-known manufactory, Bourke-street west, next passed under our eye, and they have rather a large display ofthe manufactured leaf, in shape of plugs, technically termed "small plug tens," "half-pound plugs," and the whole case professing to be of pure colonial leaf. A few bundles of leaf ornament the wall above the exhibits just referred to ; these were grown by the same gentlemen, upon their tobacco plantation at or near Dandenong. They are good in length, but appear to have been neglected in their last stages, and lacked that careful handling which we liave so often heard strongly recommended by manufacturers to growers. Messrs. Homel and Co. have made no very great effort to swell the I catalogue, bufc their exhibits are tastefully displayed, and of superior quality. Their samples of cut tobacco and snuffs were the first we examined. The elegant glass jar containing the former was filled by layers of "shag," "bird's-eye," and other cut tobaccos, and must present a tempting sight for all lovers of the weed passing by. This firm exhibits a roll of " ladies' twist," originally called " pigtail," and is the first sample of this article we have seen of colonial make. The dark tobacco shown by this firm is aromatic, in the shape of tens and [ half-pounds, plugs and twists, and, with the exception of one box, formed a very credit- • able department. Almost touching the space allotted to the i last firm is, we were going to say a large ' shop, but the -absence ofthe usual attendant ; in such a place, and a little more attention . oh our part, satisfied us that the imitation -

3- shop-front formed merely ir a .fancyYfra'me- • work to a. very splendid exhibition of.toj; bacco and snuff, iii every' shape imaginable, io -excepting the cigar. This really tasteful a- affair has been conceived andbuilt by Messrs.. a- Owen, Dudgeon, and Arnell, Elizabeth'-* street, the oldest established manufacturers ■h in the colony. Our readers, if visitors, will in perceive thafc we have not misapplied- the word " built " in this case, for this firm , has I ; displayed no ordinary taste and skill in the id arrangement of their allotted space. The ,d centre-piece is a complete section of a tierce of Virginian leaf, imported by the manu- ;- facturers, of most superior quality. It is I- impossible to speak too highly of this cen's tre-piece; it is pure Virginian. Surrounding this mass are boxes of various, shapes, d and containing tobaccos of every conceivable kind. It is beyond our space to enui- merate them all, but the most conspicuous - were aromatic half-pounds, Sailors' Delight, May Apples, Pocket-pieces, International, ; Bendigo Gold Bar, Atlantic Cable, &c. I, The many forms and varied tints have been most artistically arranged; and the enorq mous quantity' displayed (about one ton) must have made many a retailer dissatisfied ; with the contents ofhis own shop. Besides s the manufactured tobacco there is a goodly i quantity of leaf from various districts ; that i from Gipps Land is not only well grown, ; but well sweated and managed throughout, I and it would only be just to the . grower were his name made public, for we under- . stand that the present owners and exhibii tors show this sample of leaf as they bought : ifc. It is a highly creditable production, ancl ought -to be sufficient to induce any . amount of energy and capital to be emt barked in this new industry. Buninyong l and the Murray have also contributions, through the same exhibitors ; and the outside frame or ornamental parfc of this de- , parfcment is formed entirely of the smali and delicately-flavoured Turkey tobaccoleaf. Messrs. Owen, Dudgeon, and Arnell have under notice many varieties of cut tobacco and snuffs. Of the latter we noticed the old Scotch, Prince's Mixture, Brown and Black Rappee, Irish, &c. A medal and certificate suspended above these exhibits are simply satisfactory evidences of the estimation in which the exhibits of this firm were held in Dublin, 1862. The scarcity of colonial-grown leaf has obliged them to import the major parfc of the leaf now used ; but thafc the best of tobacco can be produced from Victorian is exemplified in two or three boxes of " tens," and which are distinctly marked as having been grown, sweated, aud made up in the colony. A small box ot cigars, exhibited by Mr. Benjamin, Bourke-street, brings us almost to the . end of the list of exhibitors. These cigars are manufactured by himself from leaf imported from Havannah. In the Ovens and Murray Department, Mr. Henley shows a few boxes of aromatic large plug, cable h twist, and small plugs, all of colonial growth j and make ; but considering that Mr. H. has : been one of our largest growers and makers : for some few years past, we certainly expected that his boxes would have been more, ' exempt from the " true bush" stamp. His " exhibits would have looked to far greater " advantage had a little more care and taste ' been displayed in this respect. The tobacco - exhibited by Mr. Hodson', Dunolly, is in < too green a state to form an opinion upon.; < ifc is simply hand-twisted, and without any pretension to form. His cigars had all « vanished at the time of our visit, which j either speaks well for them or otherwise for t our visitors. The two bundles of coarse leaf, we presume are intended as samples of *v sheepwash tobacco. Belvoir, the Murray c township immediately opposite Albury, i sends through her representative, Mr. Sep- c pelt, a few boxes of very excellently made f cigars from tobacco grown in the neighbour- a hood. The same grower and manufacturer t shows some finely-prepared leaf from Havan- t nan and Cuba seed ; that from the latte** C very superior, and in every respect suitable r for the finest quality of cigar. The exhibits, a as a whole, speak well for our capabilities as t a tobacco-growing climate. We have g proved this long since, and we are glad to f see that we have now the artists for cigar- a making in our community. From the in- o formation we gathered from Messrs. Moss, g White, and Co., our colonial makers can ii now, and do, supply our hotels and retailers with articles equal in quality and cheaper in tl price than the Havannah goods can be im- tl ported at, ahd in some instances afc twenty- t» five per cent. less. We trust that the hi knowledge of this fact will be fully appre- b ciated. li