INCREASED DEMAND FOR N.Z. TOBACCO.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18088, 23 February 1927, Page 8

INCREASED DEMAND FOR N.Z. TOBACCO.

INDUSTRY NOW ON COMMERCIAL BASIS. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, February 23. The growth and manufacture of tobacco in New Zealand has passed the experimental stage, and has arrived at the period when growing for export is being seriously considered. For some years the industry was carried on at a loss without assistance from the Government, but it now shows every promise of becoming an asset to the Dominion. According to a statement made by the Department of Industries and Commerce yesterday, the area under cultivation in the Dominion at the present time is between 350 and 400 acres. “ There is no doubt whatever about the fact that tobacco can be, and has been, and is being grown on a commercial basis here, and that it is a profitable crop, which brings in an appreciable and welcome sum,” states the Department. “ This year it will run into many thousands of pounds sterling to those, mostly fruitgrowers, who contract to supply the New Zealand manufacturer. “ In the past four years, the actual quantities of New Zealand-grown tobacco manufactured and sold in the Dominion have increased tenfold. The commercial possibilities of the New Zealand-grown leaf are established, and if the demand for New Zealand pipe tobacco continues to increase as it has during recent years on its merits, both as regards quality and price, much larger areas will ha\*e to be grown to meet the local demand alone.” The Department is sanguine that any leaf exported will find a ready market overseas.