TOBACCO.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 141, 29 May 1920, Page 2

TOBACCO.

A POSSIBLE NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRY. PROPOSED NATIONAL COMPANY. In connection with the formation of the National Tobacco Co., we learn that this ’ company is going to take up tobacco growing on an extensive scale all over New Zealand and that the manufactured article will be made available to the public at prices far below the cost of the imported brands. This is good news to tfie smoker, who, we imagine, has become heartily sick of being exploited by foreign manufacturers and trusts, and he will naturally welcome a movement that is 'meant to reduce the cost’of his smoke. . It is noteworthy that the- localities selected for the culture of tobacco com-, prise certain gum lands north of Auckland, where excellent specimens bf leaf } hate" been raised, showing that the tobacco plant will thrive where other crops fail. ' ‘ Tobacco does not require a rich todIn Virginia and North Carolina, whjch are famous for their tobacco, the finest tvpes are produced on soils that, at one time, had been abandoned by the farmer as utterly unfit far agricultural purposes. These poor soils, destitute of almost anything that can support plant life; became the corner stone of an industry which proved far more beneficial to the country than the discovery of a gold mine would, have been. It was found that tobacco planted on soil rich of humus invariably yielded an inferior'quality, but that, the finest types would grow to perfection on those sterile soils, and, as a result, the very fields that were considered worthless a few' years ago were soon eagerly sought. after at fancy prices; - I Thb New Zealand tobacco expert, Mr. I G. Husheer, who has a wide experience < in many parts of the world, and who, recently visited, on behalf of the' National Tobacco Co-, a number . of i settlements On the ' North Auckland. trunk line, is of opinion that the cul- | tore of tobacco could be introduced ’ there with every prospect of success. | Compared with other crops, tobacco | is less subject to blights and pests and I therefore one of the safest crops. As 1 a money crop, it has no equal, the re-: turn per acre averaging from £4O to 1 £75.

The introduction of tobacco culture, if successful would entirely change the agricultural aspects of the north and it may well happen that all those gum lands now lying idle will one day play the same important part in the development of our industries as the tobacco fields of Virginia have been playing in the history of that country.