Tobacco

The growth and production of tobacco brought wealth, jobs and growth to Motueka and was integral to the social fabric of the district for more than 70 years. But the financial well-being of the crop and the growers was often at the mercy of the Government.. 

Tobacco farm c1921
Motueka District Museum O'Shea tobacco collection
Click image to enlarge

For more than seven decades, the Motueka district’s tobacco fields provided work for locals and itinerant workers: topping plants, nipping out laterals and picking leaves.¹

Tobacco seeds and the smoking habit were brought to New Zealand by sealers and whalers in the first half of the 19^th century. Māori began growing tobacco in Rotorua in 1839.²

As early as 1843, Mr McGee’s tobacco leaf earned special mention in the first Nelson Agricultural Show, and Pastor Heine planted 50 plants in the Upper Moutere in 1850.³ By the end of the 19^th century, tobacco was beginning to appear in the Riwaka district, where Māori growers were known for producing excellent crops.⁴

Tobacco farm c1921
Motueka District Museum O'Shea tobacco collectionClick image to enlarge

There were several key players in the development of Motueka’s tobacco industry. In 1918, Charles Lowe grew tobacco on his Harakeke farm and built New Zealand’s first flue-curing barn.⁵

Meanwhile, in the early 1920s, Brightwater farmer, Cecil Nash, working for the National Tobacco Company, persuaded farmers in the area to plant tobacco. In 1925-26, more than 150 acres of tobacco were under contract to the Company. By the 1926-27 season, two companies were buying the district’s tobacco: the National Tobacco Company and W.D. and W.O. Wills.⁶

Hanging sticks of tobacco for drying (Burley) c1921.Motueka District Museum O'Shea tobacco collectionClick image to enlarge

A growers’ association was established at Riwaka in 1926 and by the early 1930s, 90% of New Zealand’s commercial tobacco was grown in the Nelson region. In 1933, tobacco was the most widely grown crop in the district and there were about 700 growers.⁷

In July 1934, about 100 growers went to Parliament to meet the Customs Minister, Joseph Gordon Coates, to argue that duty concessions would easily be offset by the income generated by the tobacco growing industry. Coates told the growers that the Government had to raise £1,600,000 in revenue from tobacco.⁸

A typical early kiln, Fibrolite exterior.
Motueka District Museum O'Shea tobacco collectionClick image to enlarge

A Tobacco Industry Act was passed in 1935 to try to co-ordinate the industry and solve issues such as over-production. A Tobacco Board was established, with all growers licensed to ensure they had a guaranteed buyer and planted no more than they could process.⁹

Legislation did not solve all the ills of the industry and by 1938 grower numbers had fallen to 342, even though tobacco could supply a good, steady income. The Board aimed to stabilise the industry, and increase acreage and the number of growers. A research station was established near Riwaka in 1938 and began to research mosaic disease - a crippling disease which causes mottled colouring and blistering on leaves.¹⁰

Wartime demand and Government assistance saw significant increases in acreages from 2000 acres in 1936, to nearly 3000 acres in 1941.¹¹

Tying leaves onto sticks – a job done mainly by women, who became very adroit at the task. (c1920s) Motueka District Museum O'Shea tobacco collectionClick image to enlarge

The industry continued to provide a good living for many families in the district, with the number of growers peaking at 763 between 1960 and 1964. In 1989, WD and HO Wills closed its packing plant after 61 years in the district.¹²

Rothmans withdrew in 1995, citing low international leaf prices and declining tobacco use. The demise of the now-deregulated tobacco industry was a $5-$6 million/annum blow, with many growers diversifying into other crops. Nowadays, apple trees are the most common sight in the Motueka district.¹³

From Tobacco Leaf to Cigarettes

Corrugated iron drying kilns were a familiar sight throughout the district and three packing plants in Motueka were major employers. Air dried tobacco (known as burley) was the mainstay of the tobacco industry until the late 1920s. It required no specialized equipment: the leaves were dried, then stripped from the plants, sorted, hanked into bunches of 15 or 20 leaves and pressed - usually in a hop press.

Flue-cured or kiln dried tobacco involved tobacco leaves being tied on sticks, with up to 750 sticks being loaded into drying kilns. The kilns (wood-fired initially and later by coke and coal) had to be watched around the clock and the temperature raised in stages to 170-180 ºC. After curing, the leaves were lightly steamed for ease of handling, then graded and packed in large bales, where they were shipped to processing factories such as the Wills’ cigarette factory in Petone, Wellington.¹⁴

Tying leaves onto sticks – a job done mainly by women, who became very adroit at the task. (c1920s) Motueka District Museum O'Shea tobacco collectionClick image to enlarge

2008 

Read more about tobacco in the Nelson region. An essay by Kaitlyn Turner, written as an NCEA assignment, 2016. [PDF]

Updated December 6, 2021

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