TOBACCO GROWING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 532, 8 December 1928, Page 29

TOBACCO GROWING

v AUSTRALIAN RESULTS POSSIBILITIES IN INDUSTRY Hitherto regarded by many Victorian farmers as a more or less profitable sideline, the growing of tobacco leaf lias now been raised to the standard of a major crop on numerous holdings in those districts of the State where its commercial production has been proved possible. The north-east portion of Victoria, principally in the rich fertile valleys of the King and Ovens rivers, was the pioneering district of tobacco-growing. It commenced with the humble garden plot or small paddock, which produced the leaf for the making of suitable sprays for the orchard. Gradually the area increased, but for many years the leaf was used only as the basis for nicotine orchard sprays. A few farmers cured and prepared their own tobacco, but as a commercial crop tobacco was not seriously considered until - about 10 years ago. Recognising the suitability of several districts in Victoria for tobacco leaf growing, the Department of Agriculture investigated the question and made available various facilities for encouraging the production of this crop. In 1901 the area under tobacco

in Victoria was 109 acres only. In 25 years the acreage had been increased to 1,228 acres, with the industry fairly well established. The most marked increases, took place in the last four years, when the area under tobacco was increased approximately by 200 acres each year. In 1925-6, 551.5221 b of leaf was produced, and the average amount of leaf sold in Victoria annually in the last five years is 561,6461 b, returning about £60,000 to the growers yearly. Reports furnished to the Department' of Agriculture indicate that the area under crop this year will probably be the greatest on record. Exhaustive experiments by tobacco manufacturing firms in Australia and the various State authorities have shown that a tobacco equal to the choicest foreign product can be made from Australian-grown leaf. For cer-

tain purposes a blend containing Turkish or American leaf is manufactured. The average annual imports of tobacco into Australia amount to £3,000,000. made up chiefly of raw leaf. It is considered that Australia could produce at least two-thirds of this quantity of tobacco. The Department of Agriculture is conducting tests in several new districts for tobacco-growing. A good leaf has been produced in the Stawell and Ararat districts, and several tracts of rich country in the Ballarat district give promise of developing into good tobacco-growing areas. In addition to these trials, the authorities are giving close attention to the propagation of a blue-mould resisting variety of plant. This disease is the greatest enemy of the tobacco plant, and each year hundreds of thousands of plants are destroyed by it. An unfortunate feature of the disease is that its attacks are most severe ifi the old-established districts where the bulk of the production is. An experimental station has been established by the department at Wahgunyah, where these experiments are conducted. An important function of this station is the acclimatisation of American seed every season. A r-eent success, which is regarded with considerable satisfaction, was the production of a Turkish cigarette leaf, having pronounced aroma and flavour. The director of tobacco investigation, who was brought from Canada *>y the Tobacco Investigation Committee to inquire into the difficulties and problems facing the producing industry in Australia, is working in collaboration with departmental officers in their various experiments. It is believed that these officers are on the eve of making discoveries of great importance to the industry.

Many pig-raisers practise the feeding of charcoal or wood ashes separately or with salt to their stock. One of the American agricultural experiment stations gives the following as being a good tonic and' mineral mixture for swine: Charcoal, one bushel; hardwood ashes, one bushel; salt, 81b; air-slacked lime, 41b; sulphur, 21b; pulverised copperas, 21b. Mix the lime, salt, and sulphur thoroughly, and then mix with the charcoal and ashes. Dissolve the copperas in one quart of hot water, and sprinkle the solution over the whole mass, mixing it thoroughly. Keep some of the mixture in a box before the pigs at all times. This mixture is easily made, and supplies the mineral elements most likely to be deficient in swine rations.