TOBACCO RESEARCH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 8 September 1938, Page 8

TOBACCO RESEARCH

WORK IN COMING YEAR 1 QUALITY OF LEAF AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ESTABLISHMENT AT MOTUEKA [Special to “The Mail’] WELLINGTON. This Day. “A number of selected soil samples have been analysed for plant food status, and as a result there are indications that in certain cases harm has resulted from the exces- ) sive application of lime and wood ash| Preliminary investigations of the relation between the quality of tobacco-leaf and its chemical composition will be developed 1 more fully in the coming year,’’ (states the annual report of the Scientific and Industrial Research Department which has been presented in the House. j "Following upon representations by the Nelson Provincial Tobacco-growers Association urging the establishment of a tobacco research station in the Nelson Province to investigate problems relating to the culture and manufacture of tobacco, steps were taken during the year to set up an organisation for tobacco research with finance contributed by the industry through the Tobacco Control Board and subsidised £1 for £1 by the Government," the report proceeds.

“In order that the research work should be closely related to the needs of the various phases of the industry, an advisory committee was set up to represent the growers and the manufacturers and the Tobacco Control Board on the one hand, and the State Departments and scientific institutions concerned on the other—viz., the Departments of Scientific and Industrial Research and Agriculture and the Cawthron Institute.

“A Tobacco Research Officer was appointed, and a programme of work on the control of tobacco diseases, particularly mosaic disease, and chemical work on tobacco soils and factors relating to the quality of tobacco-leaf, was drawn up. A grant was made to the Cawthron Institute for assistance, and special facilities made available for the study of tobacco diseases, and for a detailed survey of tobacco soils to be carried out in co-operation with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

“Arrangements were also made for the lease of a suitable area of land at Motueka for the purpose of the Tobacco Research Station.

“A survey of the incidence of tobacco-mosaic disease in a large number of tobacco-fields has been carried out, and the relative importance of a number of factors operating in its dissemination has been determined. A full report of this work will be published shortly in the ‘New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology.’”