The idiom small beer is used to describe something that is trivial and unimportant, which is what the cigarette bush is in comparison to other things.
Consider the statement "Some of the things that got created in the old days, well, a cigarette bush is very trivial and unimportant by comparison, eh?". Based on this "Some of the things that got created in the old days, well, a cigarette bush is very small beer by comparison, eh? '" a true statement? Yes, no, or I don't know?