TOBACCO CULTURE. 163 



supplies. There is, perhaps, 110 other ])l{ice in the world wlicro 

 common tobacco can be bought so cheaply. I have seen lar<^e ])arceU 

 sold in Loudon at prices varying from ^d. to 2d. per lb. ; siicli t<.l);icco 

 she does not consume very largely, it is mostly t'Xjjorted. On the 

 other hand, there is no place, except perhaps Moscow or St. Peters- 

 burg, where such high prices are paid for exceptionally tine, or what 

 are sometimes called fancy, tobaccos. I have seen as high as Is. Ijd. 

 per lb. paid for fine Borneo cigar wrappers, and a small lot of GOO lb. 

 of fine cigarette leaf was sold for 12s. per lb. exclusive of the duty, 

 which is OS. 2d. per lb. The buyer in both cases was well satisfied 

 with his bargain, and made substantial profits, as well as increased 

 his reputation by the pui'chases. Indeed, there ni'ver has been a time 

 when really fine tobaccos were not readily saleable in London. 



Besides London, Dublin, and Glasgow, there are very large markets 

 in Bremen, Antwerp, Hamburg, and Amsterdam, whose requirements 

 far exceed those of the English trade, and then the (lovernment 

 factories of France, Austria, Hungary, Italy, and some minor European 

 States, are large importers of tobacco leaf. 



It is first to England, and then to P]uro])e generally, that we should 

 look for markets for our tobacco, and there is no valid reason why 

 iLustralian tobacco should not be as welcome in the Old Woi-id as 

 Austi'alian wool has become. 



Then, again, we have Federation slowly but surely advancing, and, 

 if New South Wales is true to herself and uses her opportunities 

 wisely, she ought to supply tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes to the 

 Federated Australian Colonies. 



But, before this vision can become a fact, there is much to be done. 



Naturally enough, every tobacco-grower would like to grow good 

 leaf, but very few Australian tobacco-growers have ever had a correct 

 idea of what constituies good tobacco. The common notion is that 

 the biggest is the best, and I have found it difficult to combat this idea. 



Until a true ideal is instilled into the farmer's mind he will rontinue 

 to work up to the false one, and go on producing big, heavy leaf, 

 Avhich is now almost entirely out of fashion. 



There are five points in judging tobacco : the first, //(«•(>»/•; secoml, 

 colour ; third, texture; fourth, hurning ; fifth, size of leaf. The only 

 one our tobacco-growei's regard is the last, and least important. 



Another cause for our want of success in tobacco-growing is the 

 continual use of colonially-grown seed. In other crops the farmers 

 change their seed frequently, because it is apt to run out ; but in 

 tobacco they go on growing plants from their own seed year after 

 year on the same soil. The tobacco consequently acquires a character 

 of its own, and its peculiarities become exaggerated. 



Again, in the eagerness for a heavy crop, tobacco has almost 

 always been planted in the richest river flats. Now, I have constantly 

 pointed out that the best tobacco cannot be grown on these rich tints, 

 which can only produce big, fat leaf of low commercial value, and 1 

 have constantly urged tobacco-growers to try the second bottoms on 

 the upper reaches of the rivers and creeks. I was speaking on thus 

 point at West Maitland three years ago, and Mr. Buxton, the manager of 

 the tobacco factorv there, who has had fifty years of tobacco experience 



