PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXII, Issue 7282, 2 July 1884, Page 3

PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

[BY J. B. ARMWItOKO.] ll.—Tobacco. O! all industrial plants suitable to the climate of Now Zealand, tobacco appears to be in every way tho most promising. As tho plant has been giown in all parte of the Colony on a small Bealo for the last twenty years or more, we have now ample evidence that almost every part of the country is capable of producing tobacco of the highest excellence, and that somoi districts can produce samples inferior in no respect to the best BampleasfromCnbaor Virginia. Unfortunately, the Legislature has been so ehort-aightod as to put a heavy tax on Colonial-grown tobacco, and so has prevented its cultivation extending, as it ought to have done, throughout the Colony. The recent establishment of a Tobacco Factory in Auckland, and the more favourable state of the present excise lawsj, leads, however to tho inference that the tide has turned, and thai New Zealand grown tobacco wUI soon , bo used by the people of the / Colony, to tlxo exclusion ' of imported '*' kinds. Perhaps the Legislature will havs the good sense to abolish the remainder of the excise duty, and allow the free and unYestricted growth and manufacture of ( the weed within the Colony. If tMs is doite there is every reason to believe that tolaeco will, in a very few 1 yeara, become a; staple ei> port of Now Zealand. i But to proceed to tho question of how best to cultivate tho plant. _ let us first consider tho matter of varieties- Liko most other cultivated plants, tobacco haa Bported into numerous forini some of which are so< very different from tho common, as to bo considered dtelnct species by botanists. ' Of tho twenty or thirty upooies of Nicotiawt known to »Jiouce, those most commonly grown for manufacture are : four in number, viss., tho Virgjuian Nieoti- I anu tctbuettm, of which thews" are. several.: varieties} the German N. rmfta j thel'er- \ nian N. Vtnktt, and tho Cuban! N, rcpawfa i tho whole of these varietW have been grown in th« Colony, the firit three with perfect success. From experience we can, nay that tho best kinds for JNow Zealand are the Virginian (UKTiihn .Persian. The nsst of these is a strong growing annual, reaching a height of 6ft tol 10ft in good Boils, with ft strong, hairyj atom, thickly clothed with largo, oblong,! laneo-sUapod, somewhat Iwiry leaves, which, when well Kown, are not unfrecmontiy -ft or 3ft ig by lOin to lOjn widt i tho stem U surmounted by a forgo tod of roddish flowers, tubular in shape and veryboatiful. Tho Persian is much likofthe Virginian, hut tha loavoa are narrower and thinner in texture, the atom much Blunderer, and tho flowers are smaller aid pate rose or, pink coloured. Not unjrequenfcly this variety shows a fcmdeney tf» booomaiwrennial in our olUaato," tfcwjwlng »P «um». roiw slender stems from the root in the second year. 'lVbaw made from tlii* variety ia said / to bo muoh milder in flavour thau that from the Virginian. Soma twenty years the seeds of Oils variety tore sent to New Boaland, and dbtrlbuiwd, by tbe toto Sir W. Stookar, at that tinw Director of K«w Gardens, I i»«ve grew the plant for ooiauwntal purposes owr since, and am trurefore able tovouoh for Its hardluos* and adaptability to tho ellwato. fh# Qoramii. or eoajujoo tobacco, is the tardiest of all varieties, aod is a much

Bninllar kind than either of those described Above, 1* iwoduae* but few loaves, which ere short and rough In texture, and may be Identllflw by Hie flowers, whijh are greenish yellow and devoid of beauty. TUm varittiy has been culUvated In Now Zealand for at leait fifty years, and is aaturnlistMl in many parts of the Colony. ite produce is dMdedly Inferior, but neverthe]i»i»3t.lssftld to be tho source of Manilla «,nd Indian tobaecoo. Tho fourth variobf, S. repan&a, is distineuishad fretu ,V. Tabiteuin by the bsitos of tho stem leaves belnx heart sbopol, and tbuir tttuaiu Iwiiig frinijed with soft hairs. This kind liuis not yet been sufficiently t«sted in tliie Colony, but there S* reason t» «app*>»o that our climate is seorsely warm etioufifh to brlnu it to per* feetion.

ret|uires a fairly rich soil to yield heavy crops, and the most suitable is certainly a rich light loam, such as would yield good crops of potatoes or turnips. Stiff clayil, or dry shingly soils nro equally unsuitable. There ar« many thousands of ocres of land in the Colooy woll suited to the growth of tho " wood/' and no doubt th«y vrill some day belargoly devoted 'bo its culture. It has been found by I'Xperionoo that the crop requires a moderately moist el imate during the early stages oil it» growth, and a dry sunny one o» tho leaves mature, and consequently the climate of tho grcator part of tho Colony, including Canterbury, is admirably suited. Though largo crop* of tobjicco have been growu in Englnnd and Ireland, yet, owing to the dampness oil 1 the autumn in those ooimtricai, the quality of tho produce was inferior, and eonse<||uontly Great Britain will eveir continue to import her supplies of this commodity from other countries, and no good reason cixists why New Zealand should not share in such a profitable trade. Cultivation.—The cultivation of tobacco is not by; any meamii difficult, but it never* theloss requires greiiit care and attention to produce really good: and profitable crops. Almost ayery tooaceo growing country has a system peculiar to itself, but we give an account of that pursued in Virginia as , being the most fitted for our climate. The 1 seeds are sown in sjihing, Septemher being : the best month in New Zealand. For sowing, beds 3ft or 4ft wide and of light : fertile garden soil an) prepared as for onions. ' The seed is then mixed with four or six I times its bulk of fine sand or wood ashes, the former for preference. *ft should now bo sown broadcast over the bed, and not covered with soil, (but lightly raked in with a steel irake. ;Whon the young plants, which are at first vury minute, make their appearance, iihebedfi should be protected on frosty n%hts by sticking in branches of pines or other everj(reens along the sides of the beds, and all weeds should be carefully removed by liasd. So soon as the plants have made ;fonr to six leaves, they ore ready for removal to the fields. The field for tobacco gitowing should be thoroughly iveU worked, and can scarcely be too deeply ploughed. AH clods-should be broken up and the jrround well harrowed before planting, if the soil is tho least inclined to povert]' it should be liberally manured! wiUi well-rotted horse dang or bone dust. The young plants are removed during a cloudy or showery time, and are treated very much the same as cabbages ore. In lifting them prize them up carefully with a spade ; carry them to tne field in a basket, and plant them with an ordinary diblber. They should be planted in straight: lines 3ft apart, and 18in or 2ft apart in the rows.J They should be so placed that the plants in one row alternate with th« spatjes in tiho next. They are inserted its deep as the lowest leaf, but no deeper. As the plants advance in growth, the grotmd should tie hoed, and all weeds destroyed. M time can be spared it is well to repeat thin hoeing at least twice during tho season, as the loosening of the surface promotes growth, and the freer the crop grows the fitter the quality. As soon an the head of flowers begins to show, it should be pinched off with the finger and thumb, or nipped off with small shears find the operation should be repeated! with the side-shoots. It wBl bo necessary to go over the field frequen'tly to carry out this operation, but the quality is much improved by it. Of course '.\ few planVs must be allowed to growtotieh" fall extent for seed saving, tut when vre consider that a full-sized tobaeco plant frequently produces as many as -10,000 sosds, it in evident that there is no necessity to keep many. At thadistance alwve given, an acre of ground will carry about (1000 plants, and judging by the returns of Virginian crops, these should yield about 12001bsi of tobacco. But the best lands of New Zealand can certainly db even better than this. However 10001 b is agreed by the best authorities to be a paying wop. From the time that the tops of tho plants ate pinched out, till that when the crop is fit for gathering is from five to eight weeks, ceccrding to the season and soil. Not more than eight or ten leaves are allowed to mature on each plant if really good' quality is expected. "When the leaves begin, to droop slightly, to turn yellowish and to smell strongly, the plants are ready for harvesting. The plants ore now cut over by the surface of the ground, and allowed to lay on tho ground for a few j hours until dried by the heat of the sun. The plants are then gathered and carried to the sheds, whero they are laid in heaps, j covered with boardsion which weights are ' laid, ondf left in tha't situation foe three or | , four days to ferment. They are then taken' ! out, tiod into small bundles of three or four plants each, and hung up on lines or < tooroaa-lwamu in the shed, free vcntUation being now allowed. After they have I become dry they are again taken down and laid in heaps to' carefully excluding '■ tho air. j Iney should be all wed to sweat for a week or ten days, but the heap should I be turned several times to prevent what is called burning, which destroys the I flavour of the tobacco. This is tho most diißcult part of tho business, and j skill in ills management can only be gained by experience. The sweating being completed, the leaves aiw separated from the etems and graded iitto three classes—top leaves, txtttoms and middles. They ore now dried under cover ami tied into " hands " of ten orstwelve leaves. These ore placed in hoses or casks in regubw layers, and pressed down so as t> exclude the air. The tobacco hi now ready for the manufacturer, as no further operations—euoh as cigar making, 4c—can be carried on without the requisite skill acquired by long practice in its manufacture. In the warmer \msU of Now Zealand, where lihdre in little reason to expect the occurrence of spring frosts, tobacco might be sown in tho fields in drills like turnips. Before sowing, it would be well to mix tho seed with sov'eral times its bulk of bonedust, and to use one of the best of the nsaehtae drill* used iin turnip culture. In coneluslco, it is well to remark that, if this industry is t<> be established in W Zealand, due caution muat be exercised. Nobody should rush into tho thmg on a large scale, but the industry must be built up slowly and steadily, lieaders are requested to bea* this remark ia mind when considering any fnture reeommeiidatjoßs of tlie wri«t. Sheltered positions are hmt f« tobaeoo flelds, m high winds injure the wop fey tearing the leaves. The duty now payable <u t<)baeeo grown in the Colony £ Is per lb, .