TOBACCO

James Davis Smith learnt how to grow tobacco while a convict at Lewinsbrook. Tobacco was one of the crops grown in the Paterson area at this time, it was very labour intensive, so could be grown on the properties with white slaves. He leased 35 acres from Alexander Park when he was granted a Conditional Pardon in 1849 and grew tobacco on the land. He must also have learnt how to harvest and dry the tobacco leaf and further processing as he had a tobacco processing factory in Singleton after 1875.
The following description of the process has been adopted from an article published in “The Australian” on the 18th. of November 1826 and was also reproduced in “Tocal’s First European Settler – James Phillips Webber” by Brian Walsh, Appendix 7, page 67.

The ground for sowing tobacco seed in, ought to be rich sandy loam; and to reap the advantage of three crops, should be well prepared, in June. Burning the sods, or surface, is found to be very beneficial for promoting the certain growth of the seed, and the preservation of the young plants. By that process the ground is sweetened and cleared of the roots of grass and weeds, and made destructive to insects which prey on the seeds and young plants; besides, the seed vegetates rapidly, and the plants thrive well in soil mixed with the burnt ashes of the surfaces.
The best season for sowing tobacco is early in July, but it may answer until the latter end of October. The beds for the seed ought to be made in shape and with care, very similar to onion beds, and of the same width, to allow convenient weeding as often as any weeds are seen amongst the young plants. When the beds are laid out they are to be rolled or trodden until the surface becomes uniformly solid. The seed is so small it requires to be mixed with ashes, and sown when there is no wind – and to be rolled, trodden, or beaten with the flat side of a spade. If the weather should be dry and hot, watering, and shading the beds with boughs, will expedite the vegetation of the seed, and growth of the plant. When the plants are the size of full grown cabbage plants, they are then to be transplanted, on a favourable dark day, and if possible, when the ground is in a moist state; and, as before stated, the ground ought to be a rich sandy loam, well prepared. It would be benefited much by previously burning a quantity of straw, grass, or
rubbish, on the surface; the ashes of which become beneficial to the ground, and pernicious to the insects. The plants are to be set in rows, three feet apart by four feet wide. If the ground should be dry, and the strength of the sun powerful, they will require to be watered, and shaded by small pieces of bark, with one end on the ground, and the other supported by a bit of sod, until they take healthy root.
When the plant gets from six to eight leaves, it will be necessary to hill it in a similar way to maize, and constant care must be taken to keep the ground clear of weeds, and to examine and clear the plants daily of destructive grubs, which are easily found out by their dirt being seen on the leaves. When some of the leaves of certain plants appear to be in a state of drooping decay, it is generally occasioned by a species of ground grub, which will be found devouring the stem of the plant, about half an inch from the surface of the ground – on its destruction, the plant recovers.
When the stalk has thrown out from six to eight good leaves, all the lower leaves ought to be broken off – reserving either of these numbers – regulated by the strength of the stem. When the lower leaf is about one foot from the ground, the top of the stalk ought to be broken off, similar to that of a bean stalk, to check the height, and give increased strength to the stem and leaves reserved; after which, numerous
shoots sprout out of the stem, which ought to be constantly nipped off, to give the six or eight leaves reserved for tobacco (more or less), the whole strength of the stalk; and no leaf ought to be allowed to remain that touches the ground.
When the tobacco is ripe, it is known by becoming mottled, glutinous, sticky to the fingers, and exceedingly brittle. The stalk ought then to be cut off, at from four to five inches from the ground; and the end of the part left in the ground rubbed over with a little fresh earth, to preserve it from the injurious effects of exposure to the atmosphere.
The second crop is managed in a similar way to that of the first, with the exception of confining generally, the selected leaves, to six on each stalk; and being watchful that the bearing plants is from a shoot from the old stock, and not a sucker from the root. If the season is open when the second crop is cut, and that the planter can hope for two months, or even six weeks weather, clear of frost, a third crop may be obtained off the same stem.
The stalk ought to be cut in the heat of the day, as it is so brittle that it requires to be exposed, when cut, to five or ten minutes heat of the sun, to make it pliable and safe to handle without breaking. It ought then to be hung up in single stalks in a shade, until perfectly dry; after which, when there is a moist state of the atmosphere, the leaves ought to be stripped off their stalks, and piled up in a heap to heat and sweat. That process begins in two days, or from that to three weeks, depending on the state of the tobacco and weather. Throughout this heating process it must be closely examined, and when it becomes pretty warm and the tobacco acquires a moist oily feel, it ought then to be taken asunder and made into hands of about a quarter of a pound each, and again hung up in a shade to dry; when quite dry it is again heaped together or stacked, as before, and allowed to remain until it acquires the sweating heat; when the heap is turned upside down, examined, and turned in a similar manner every third or fourth day, until the heating and sweating process ceases, when it is ready for pressing and packing. The quality of the tobacco depends much on the heating and sweating process. If sweated too much, the tobacco becomes weakened and mouldy; if too little, it is acrid and pungent; but when judiciously performed, then its own rich oily fluid preserves and mollifies it.
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James Davis and family moved to Singleton in 1875 after the death of Alexander Park and Lewinsbrook was advertised for sale. They leased a building on the corner of Hunter and John Streets in Singleton and set up a tobacco factory. Their daughter Sarah Jane got a job as a student teacher at Singleton School in 1877 and was promoted to a senior teacher in 1880.

The Singleton Argus newspaper printed the following article on the 28th July, 1875 about James Smith’s tobacco factory;

“ We paid a visit to Mr. Smith’s factory in John Street, when the process of manufacturing the tobacco of commerce, from raw leaf, was courteously explained to us by Mr. Smith. The leaf arrives packed up in small bundles, and after stems have been carefully stripped off, it is steeped in liquorice to render it pliable and for the sake of preservation. When the leaf is thoroughly impregnated with the liquorice juice, the workmen roll it on a table into figs. What astonished us was, more than anything, the extraordinary deftness with which the figs were rolled, and although the work is entirely done by hand, it could scarcely be surpassed in regularity by any machine. After the figs are shaped by hand they are taken to the processing room, and being closely packed in small wooden trays, they are tightly pressed in a screw press. The next process is to pack them in tiers, when they are again pressed, before being conveyed to the oven. The tiers of tobacco are then placed in the oven, where they are subjected to a temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. There they remain until they are thoroughly dry, when they are forwarded to Sydney for sale. Mr. Smith informs us that he manufactures, on an average, something like 600 lbs. (267 kg.) per week, using nothing but the finest leaf, all of which is grown in this district”.

The tobacco growing era suffered a setback around 1880 with pests and mould and a lot less was grown in the Paterson district as a result. James Davis and Jane decided to move and applied for a land grant in the Combarra area near Coonamble. In 1881 they sold the tobacco factory to W.D. & H.O. Wills and moved to Combarra.