GROWING OF TOBACCO

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1933, Page 12

GROWING OF TOBACCO

SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS. HAMILTON AND GISBORNE. An interesting experiment in tobaccogrowing is being carried out by Mr. John Hunter, of Whitiroa, Hamilton, who has planted a section, 116 ft square, at the comer of Ulster and Mill Streets, Whitiora, with tobacco of the Judge’s Pride variety. A crop of potatoes was taken from the section last year and the plot was carefully tilled. The tobacco seed was sown' in July last and the young plants Were ! carefully nurtured during the winter. Superphosphate was applied in small quantities as fertiliser. The rows between the plants were kept free of weeds and were cultivated. The plants are 4ft apart between the rows and 2ft apart in each row. They stand sft high, and are in healthy condition and ready to cut.

So far, the experiment has been a success. Many residents in Hamilton are noW -growing tobacco in small quantities and they are watching Mr. Hunter’s experiment with interest. ■Several Gisborne residents are making the experiment of growing their own tobacco. A few tried it last season, and they succeeded in producing a leaf that satisfied their requirements, after they had weaned themselves off the factory blended lines. Last spring saw an increase in the number Ox back-door to-bacco-growers, and the leaf is rapidly coming to maturity. Some are growing the tobacco on a comparatively large scale, and the number of plants in one case , totals over 3000, but most are satisfied with a few plants in their gardens. The climatic and soil conditions appear to suit the growth of tobacco plants, of vzhich several varieties are doing well.