(A report from the 7th Annual Cannabis Cup.)
Nevil, an Australian of Dutch heritage, founded The Seed Bank with a small classified ad in High Times Magazine in July 1984. His company became a runaway success story. Two years later, Nevil paid taxes on $500.000 worth of seeds, sold to more than 15.000 different growers in the United States alone. His ad in High Times jumped to a 1/6 page display ad in October 1985. In 1987, then-executive editor Steven Hagar traveled to Holland, researched Nevil’s biography and dubbed his house ‘Cannabis Castle‘. Two months after the article was published, Nevil’s High Times ad jumped to a full-color, full page ad. And the King of Cannabis was born.
The 1st Annual Cannabis Cup, designed to pay homage to the growing cannabis scene in Holland, was held in 1988. Skunk #1 from Cultivator’s Choice took top prize, but the next year, Nevil’s Seed Bank swept all five awards. Unfortunately, three weeks after the 1990 Cup, Nevil was arrested while visiting his family in Australia.
Some people felt then- Drug Czar William Bennet, who was angered by attacks in High Times Magazine concerning his alcohol and tobacco addictions, was hoping to shut down High Times through Operation Green Merchant and Nevil’s arrest. Editor-in-chief and Cannabis Cup founder Steven Hagar was subpoenaed for Nevil’s trial.
Fortunately, however, Nevil escaped and disappeared. Although his whereabouts remained unknown for quite some time, the strains he mailed around the world lived on and continued being developed at the Seed Bank. Nevil’s life story rivals that of High Times founder Tom Forcade, and Hager’s biography of him can be found in High Times Greatest Hits: 20 Years of Smoke in Your Face, published by St. Martin’s Press.
Nevil’s genetics can still be found around the gene pools of many modern seed banks. Like the classic Nevil’s Haze or Northern Lights Haze crossings.
Nevil Schoenmakers (02-02-1956 – 30-03-2019)
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"I first visited the Netherlands in 1987 to write an article on the founder of Holland's first cannabis-seed company. Titled 'The King of Cannabis', the article described how an Australian named Neville got access to some of the world's greatest known strains of Cannabis, and established a mail-order company in Holland that eventually made him rich. He lived in a mansion filled with growrooms, called 'The Cannabis Castle'. While working on the article, I met the founders of Cultivators Choice, an almost defunct American cannabis-seed company. They told me about the spectacular California harvest festivals of the '70s. That's when I got the idea of holding a Cannabis Harvest Festival in Amsterdam".
In 1988 Neville introduced the first Haze to Holland.
The 'Haze x
NorthernLights F1-Hybrid' had it's origins in the United States,
where the 'Haze Brothers had been growing the Sativa plants since
the 70's. The price in 'The Seed Bank' catalogue was then $100 for
10 seeds. It nearly became extinct beginning of the 80's because
growers were looking for easier varieties. The Haze brothers
eventually retired, but first made a trip to the Netherlands, where they
met with Neville, a breeder whos name has often been associated
with the Haze and its hybrids even before he was 'the king'. Neville
acquired Haze seeds from them, preserving the strain and using it for
many crosses. Haze requires proffesional care and alot of patience
because of its long season.. but it has been very good for hybridization.
Today, the Haze variety is found in many crosses that are available,
and is a favourite to many 'Sativa Connoisseurs'
