DAIRYING IN FIJI.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 7 November 1925, Page 18

DAIRYING IN FIJI.

IMPRESSIONS AND OPINIONS. ® A THREE MONTHS’ TOUR. (By J. E. Campbell.) During my recent stay of several months m the beautiful and. fertile islands which comprise Fiji it was my o-ood fortune to meet many of the pioneers of the dairy industry there. I say pioneers advisedly, for dairying is in” its infancy in Fiji. Few of these pioneers have had any previous experience, but each is of the stamp who overcome obstacles and eventually win out That tliev will win out and establish the industry I am firmly convinced, and that in much less time it took the pioneers of dairying in. New Zealand. New Zealand is their model, and. profiting bv experiments here, they hope to avoid the failures which befel our early settlers. Just here I should like to mention my indebtedness to Mr .Henry Scott, of - Suva, for the great interest he took in my investigations, and whose help and introductions made possible the collection of the great bulk of my information.

Firstly,. I should explain, that Fiji is 1140 miles distant from' Auckland and 1743 miles from Syclney. Two hundred and fifty islands comprise the group, 80 of which urc mhatiitocl. The total area of the colony is 7082 square miles, or about 4,532,800 The chief island, Vitivelu, covers 2,594,000 acres, and Vanualevu 1,362,000 acres. Although situated in the tropical zone Fiji possesses a very healthy climate. For the greater part of the year the climate is sub-tropical, equable and generally enjoyable, and, although somewhat oppressive from December to March, the nights are cool. Children show no disability arising from the climate. The average rainfall in the wet zone is 115 inches; in the dry zone it averages about 75 inches per annum. The average maximum temperature is 82.5 degrees, and the average minimum 71.5. The wet season extends from December to March, which, strange] v enough, is the hottest season. The alluvial river flats cannot be surpassed for richness, and rivers and streams are numerous, some of which can lx; navigated bv small craft, punts and launches for 70 miles from the mouth. For more than 40 years small quantities of excellent butter have been oroduced bv settlers, either for use in their own households or for local sale, but it is only in very recent years that any serious attempt lias been made to establish the dairying industry on commercial lines. At the present ti,me two co-operative butter factories are operating in Fiii—one at Nansori and the other at Tai Leva—the latter meeting the requirements of Fiji’s soldier settlers who have taken up dairying. A proprietary concern have signified their intention of immediately erecting a factorv at Navua.

The country from which the cream comes to supply these factories is, all in the wet zone, and it is with this that I propose to deal. My first investigation took me to Navua to the very fine property of the Fiji Pastoral Company. This company hold an area of some 1600 acres, on which they milk and fatten. Until now the land has been farmed in a very haphazard way. dairy cows and fat stock apparently roaming together over the'whole of the property. The number of paddocks is very limited, and no systematic method is in operation. The huge cowshed held 80 at a time of the 112 cows being milked on the property. The milking is done by hand by Indians, who have to he constantly watched if the. cows are to be properly milked. Labourers of this class will not commence work before daybreak. 6 a.m. The whelp of the cows are then brought in, and remain in the shed or yard until all are milked at about 9 a.m. In order that the workers should.he finished by 6 p.m, a start has to he made' at 3 o’clock, so that the herd has only six hours’ daylight feeding. Tn a climate such as Fiji shade and a copious supply of water are essential. Hero we find practically no‘shade, and the boundary river the only water supply. Under such conditions good returns are not to be expected, but the manager assured me the cows produced 1401bs butterfat per head last season.

The dairy stock here comprise Jerseys, Holsteins and Fiji-bred cattle, and are of poor quality. The most promising cattle from a dairying point of view were gome two-year-old- heifers from cows bought in calf from New Zealand. They are very fine stock, ajid, being horn to the ; climatic conditions, are expected to give a good account of themselves. On looks they certainly should do this. The only pasture provided consists of Para grass, a quick-growing coarse grass, which grows luxuriantly on all the good land in Fiji. It requires careful and systematic feeding, for it quickly grows rank. Small paddocks are essential if the best results are to he .obtained. These were the conditions which prevailed at Navun until the advent of Major Tattersall, of New Zealand. Under his direction the whole aspect of the property is being changed. The dairy land is to- lie subdivided into farms of 75 acres, each of which the Ma jor estimates will carry 50 cows, small paddocks are to prevail, milking machines to be installed, bamboo shelters' (f;o provide shade until such time as permanent shade can be grown) are to be erected, and v;ater is to lie available in each paddock. Paspalum, trefoils and maize, all of which grow prolifically, are to be added to, the ration, and the cows are to be systematically tested and culled and mated with bulls of biittcr-fat producing strain.

The Major is a very practical dairy farmer of wide experience—a worker, not a talker —but be is very sanguine of success for dairying at Navun. Tn bis company I inspected the whole of the property, and be pointed, with pride to a fine piece of land which he calls the “island.” which carries and fattens a beast, to the acre. The steers on the “island” were in very fine condition, which reflects the quality of their pasture. Another property in the same locality is that of Mr Chapman—he has two sheds, in each of which ■he milks 40 cows. He employs Indian hand milkers, with practically no supervision. Para grass, with a little green maize, isj the only- food provided. His Mav cheque for butter, which is made on the farm, was £9O.

From Navun I inspected, in company with Messrs Mune. Withero, Wright and Pockver, much of the rich river flat country on the Rewa river. There is undoubtedly some . very high-class land in this localitv, and with such a fine waterway, navigable for 70 miles from its mouth. I shall be very surprised if this fails to become the Taranaki of Fiji. One of the most practical of the dairy farmers of Rewa is Mr J. Barber. His farm consists of 98 acres, and he carries all the year round 70 dairy cows. 20 two-rear heifers, 12 yearlings, two bulls and one horse. He milks all

Uie year round, for winter has no teirors in Fiji, and .©very rnontli sees fresh cows coming in. He never milks less than 37 to 40 at any one time. In addition to Para grass, paspalum and a trefoil called sensitive plant in the paddock, he feeds his cows at milkincr time with chopped Para, rice, bran and molasses. Molasses and bran cost Is 2d per cow per week, and the wages of the boy who chops the Para, besides helping with the milking, is 15s pel week and find himself. The herd concists of one Holstein cow—a month s test credited her with 9801 b milk, test 3.5 —and the rest Fiji * all soits. The factory test for the three periods of February for the herd was 0.1, 0.0 ana °'From Mr Barber’s I proceeded up river to the farm of Mr McKenzie . young pioneer from New Zealand He has had rather bad luck in his' ing, but he is sanguine of ultimate success. His farm consists of 13U acres, and his rent is 7s 6d per acre for flat land and 6d for hill country , hill land is in bush, and reeds, and iequires clearing up. He has only bee there two seasons, and his stock con Ss mostly of Fiji-bred cows-more suitable for beef than butter-fat and some nice-looking New Zealand Holstein cows and heifers He carries ,0 head of stock on the farm, which inquires a lot of putting in ordei. He will not have Indian milkers, he say-, on the farm at any price. He assured me that maize and paspalum. would both do exceedingly well m hip. Further, up river I saw some very fine land indeed, and many settlers say it will oarrv a dairy cow to the . acre, while others are prepared to give a written guarantee to the extent of 60 cows to the 100 acres. Mr Witheimmsured hie his 150 acres carries 150 head of cattle all the year round TTp near Veria 1 inspected a block of 700 odd acres of some of the finest river flat it is possible to see. Ims was once banana land, hut now carries a super-abundance of line Para grass. It would make five to seven ideal dairy farms, and can. I understand, he purchased at a very reasonable price. Many smaller areas are available too, which in practical hands should be most profitable. .■ . rp . Time did not permit me to visit iailevu, another fine dairying' district. I made much inquiry regarding it, and understand that the industry is prooressing splendidly there. In fact, a letter which I received from the secretnrv of Tailevu scheme gives the information that the return from 285 cows in 1923 ‘averaged 1731 b butter-fat, and in 1924 347 cows averaged 1711b' each, the decrease being accounted for by the abnormal wet last season. In conclusion, I can only say I reel confident that good times lie ahead for Fiji. After very careful •investigation and consideration it seems to me there is an assured future for dairying there. With first-class freehold land available at £5 to £ls ner acre, practical farmers who do not object to. a few years of pioneering would, I believe, find the colony worthy of their energy and experience. . Then there is the copra industry. This is well established, and provides the cocoanut planter with an adequate income for a minimum of exertion. I can imagine nothing nearer to the ideal life than this. Country that can produce pineapples such as one finds in Fiji cannot long remain without the means of canning them for the markets of the world, and the advent of a pineapple cannery should bring to Fiji a- prosperity equal to that brought, thereby to Hawaii. ~ Cotton, too. is a very profitable industry. and those who know speak very highly of the quality of the article grown in these islands. With such possibilities it is not difficult to picture these lovely British isles, supplying the manv tropical commodities which the Empire urgently requires. For my part my visit was largelv a holiday one, hut to any interested reader I shall he only too pleased to supply any information T possess with reference to land or conditions'in Fiji.