TOBACCO FOR EXPORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22620, 7 January 1937, Page 8

TOBACCO FOR EXPORT

Interesting and helpful comment on the possibilities of growing tobacco in the Auckland Province for export is contained in a statement published to-day. A point deservedly emphasised is that this is a specialised business. L'nless the suitability of the soil for the purpose in mind is definitely ascertained, the only result likely to follow attempts to produce leaf for export will be loss of the capital applied. Ihe Government recently made public a very encouraging report of a shipment of Nelson tobacco to London by the Port Hobart. The statement appearing to-day emphasises that the Nelson growers have scored this success because they experimented carefully beforehand and worked out a proper technique of production. It is suggested that there is an even better prospect of following similar methods in the Auckland Province, and the project is recommended as a means of making men now on sustenance into self-support-ing producers, contributing toward the development of an export industry. The prospect depicted is attractive. If, as the indications suggest, there is such an opportunity lying fallow, no time should be lost in considering how it may be utilised. Something has been done already to make tobacco growing a means of aiding unemployed men, notably in the Bay of Plenty district. However, if an export business is to be developed it is obvious that more must be done in working out a system and applying it. Uniform and dependable quality must naturally be secured if the market is to be satisfied, and this can be obtained only through careful and patient preliminary work. With all the difficulties that must be overcome, the possibilities of tobacco growing appear to deserve further investigation.