Connecticut western news., 1897-11-11
TOBACCO IN AUSTRALIA.

The Antipodes to Become . Competitor
 of the Western World.
 Australia has at last set about mak. ing a serious effort to cultivate tobacco. For 30 years or more the feed has been grown in limited areas in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, but it can scarcely be said to have been oulti- vated. Not at any stage has the indus try been backed by scientific knowledge, at least not until experts were sent over from this country. Victoria secured the services of MT. Bondurant, Kentucki- an, if we mistake not. and New South Wales those of MT. Howell, also from the south. The former has been at the antipodes for two or three years and the latter only few months. Sufficient, however, has been done by MT. Bondu- rant in Victoria to demonstrate that 8 good marketable article can be grown there, and that in future tobacco will figure much more prominently in the list of Australian exports than was thought likely a few years back. It was the success which attended the efforts of Mr. Bondurant as practical instruct or that induced the government of New South Wales to follow Victoria's lead and also turn to the States for a scientific teacher And now we learn that the agricultural department of Queensland is assisting it's growers by importing the best American seed pro- ourable. The expert, it is presumed, will follow in due course.
 There is no doubt whatever that to- bacco can be profitably grown in all the Australian colonies. The product may never rival Vuelta Abajo, not even equal that of our New England states, but the fact that the governments have decided to push the enterprise for all that 1t is worth means that tobacco in large quantities will eventually be pro- duced and placed on the markets of Flu. rope. The latest reports from Victoria place the new crop at 250 tons. but the average annual yield has been double that for some years past. The great drought that afflicted Australasia in the latter part of 1898 accounts for the falling off. Just what percentage of these 250 tons will be shipped abroad is not stated, but fair quantity is des- tined for London and Liverpool - as sample shipments only, be 1t under stood. The tobacco is probably on it's way to Europe at this moment, for the report under review was written in June. The leaf was then being treated for shipment, but it was thought some little time would be consumed in get ting it ready. It will be packed much the same as are our southern tobaccos.
 From this report, however, we learn that the government expert is very we'll pleased with the results attained at the experimental farm at Edi, where he planted a large number of varieties of plug and cigar leaf tobacco. MT. Bon- durant's chief object has been to deter mine what varieties of leaf were best adapted to Victorian soil and climate, and this, it is claimed, he has done Next season larger crop is to be set out, and should that prove a commer- cial success the tobacco raising industry will be fairly launched. In all human probability it will be years before Aus tralia becomes competitor of ours in this field, but once it has been proved that tobacco is a profitable crop to grow and the farmers have learned to handle it, then we may have to bestir ourselves Tobacco Leaf