§ The Commissioners of Customs and Excise may issue licences to responsible persons within the United Kingdom to grow tobacco for the purpose of the use of the extract for the manufacture of insecticides or sheep-dips or other purely agricultural or horticultural purposes, subject to regulations to be approved by the Commissioners, such regulations to deal with the area to be grown, the varieties of tobacco to be used, and the manner of growing and harvesting the crop.
§ If the crop is denatured in accordance with the requirements of the Commissioners, no duty shall be charged upon the tobacco raised, provided that the denaturing entirely prevents any illegal use of the leaf or the extract. This is a point which I think was raised on a new Clause on the last Finance Bill, and I want very briefly to point out its purpose. We are simply asking that permission should be given to grow coarse tobacco for purely agricultural purposes, and not for smoking in any form whatever. The purpose in view is the extraction from the tobacco of nicotine. The reason it is desired to extract nicotine from the coarse tobacco is that when mixed with water it is one of the most valuable washes you can possibly have for fruit or hops, as well as for use for sheep-dipping. At the present time nicotine, because of its high price, is beyond the reach of many agriculturists who would like to utilise it for the purposes I have described.
§ We desire that a licence should be granted in England to certain people to be allowed to grow a certain amount of coarse tobacco for this purpose, and we have had a deputation to the Treasury on this question. The whole matter has resolved itself into a question as to whether this tobacco, if grown, can be so denatured that the nicotine can be extracted from it for agricultural uses, but that it cannot be used for smoking purposes. We press this strongly on the Treasury, because we say that the nicotine thus extracted can be put to valuable uses from the fact that it is a vegetable wash, and can be used for both fruit and hops when both crops are in full leaf. These 2296 crops will not suffer from the use of the wash, whereas if a mineral wash were used it would have a deleterious effect. All we ask is that the Government should consider the question, which is one of great importance to hop and fruit growers. We ask the Government instead of laying the whole burden upon agriculturists to get the Government chemists to help us to get something that can be used, and to obtain the greatest benefit from the extracted nicotine. If that is done it will be an enormous benefit to hop growers, fruit growers, and other agriculturists in all parts of England.
§ Mr. GRETTONI beg to second the Clause. I do not want to make a speech, but, from the point of view of a user of hops, I want to endorse what the Mover of the Clause has said, that this would be the greatest possible relief in many seasons. Any concessions that the Government can give to the hop industry it deserves, for it is not only an agricultural industry, but it has depending upon it other industries.
Mr. McKINNON WOODI have had the advantage of conferring in private with the hon. Member who moved the Clause, and he has stated quite accurately what the view of the Government is. They entirely sympathise with his object, and the only difficulty in his and in their way is to discover a denaturant which will prevent fraud. I hope that will be discovered at no distant date and then I hope that we will be able to meet the hon. Member.
§ Mr. WHELERWill the Government chemists help us, instead of all the burden being upon us?
§ Motion and Clause, by leave, withdrawn.