A TRIP TO THE SOUTH SEAS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13996, 31 August 1907, Page 4

A TRIP TO THE SOUTH SEAS.

By rap. Rev. i\ Stddhs,

[All Rights Reserved.] samoan Industries,

COPRA.

The cocoanut palm is surely tlte most useful tree in the world, as it is one of the most beautiful of trees. Tho nut yields oil, cream, and butter. The milk affords one of the most delicious of beverages. From the fibre aro manufactured string, rope, mats, and the useful fuo or lly-lriller. The truiik yields timber. From tile filiell tho native makes cups, waterjugs, and charcoal. The leaves afford the material for the walks andi blinds of his "house, and for baskets, fans, and torches. Above all, the nut yields copra, and copra brings money, and money yields all sorts of commodities and advantages, Is there any other tree in the world of which so much may be said? It is also hardy, and remarkably frco from pests. But it is as a copra producer that I want to speak of the cocoanut tree in this' article. There are 7660 acres of cocoanut plantation under liuropean management, ■but I understand this does not include the immense number of trees to bo found along the roads and in the native villages. The trees are planted in rows at intervals of 30ft by 30ft. An acre will contain about 48 trees, which will yield from onethird to one-half ton of copra, tho present price, of copra £22 per ton; A fully-planted cocoanut .plantation is very valuable, but freehold forest land may be purchased at from £2 to £3 per acre, or rented at a shilling per acre. Tho clearing and planting i 3 not unduly expensive, ar.d the trees will' bear in about eight years, whilst in the meantime bananas and ■ taro may ba grown. The yield of copra per acre, as I have said, will be from onethird to one-half ton, eo that with the prices that have ruled during the last two or three years it will bo bmji that a cocoanut plantation in Samoa is a very good investment. Very little labour is required when once the treis have begun to bear, and this will be supplied by hlaclc boys, who may be bad at a total cost to thp planter of a little more than a shilling per man per day. Tho only enemy tho tree has ia tho Tat, which infests the plantations by millions, and eats into and destroys the young nut 6. Captain Ilufnagel, manager of the splendid plantation which I visited at Vaikle, told me that it was quite to get rid of this troublesome rodent. 'He .got a lot oi dogs, smoked the trees on which the rat 6 were, the rats fell, the dogs devoured them, ond tho plantation was troubled no morel Judging front what I iisard and eaw, I should say that copra-growing is one of tils pleasaiilest and most lucrative occnipatiors in the world., (The now law requires every male native to plant 250 cocoanut trees per annum. In this way tho area under cultivation will bo steadily increased.) 1

CACAO. Next _in importance to the copra industry is that of cacao or cocoa. There ore 2850 acrcs planted, and the present year's crop is estimated to reach 400 tons.

Tho quality is excellont, and last year the iUpolu Company's cocoa fetched top price < in, t'ho London market-, realising from £4 &3 to ?A Bh per cwt, The cacao crop is raised principally by the smaller p'antens. Tho trees bear in tho third' or

• fourth year. There are at present five <* cacao-planting companies, and, the climate is I anticipate that tho production will rapidly increase. Unfortunately, Unlike the cocoanut, tho cacao tree has many enemies—rats, white ants, brown rob on tho fruit, and all do a, lot of damage. Hut tho worst enemy is the cacao canker, and if badly infected tltero is nothing to do but burn the tree, Toot and branch. With proper care, however, all of these pests may bo kept down. RUbBER,

_ Rubber also promises to be are important industry, though it is at present in its infancy. There arc 717 acres actually planted, and tho growth of the recentlyplanted lands is said to have been phenomenal, mid the tapping of the trees from the first phuits eminently satisfactory, showing that both soil and climato aro ftivournblo. Several companies aro now at work, amongst them a British Rubber Company, formed in Glasgow in 1905, and it is estimated that before long two or three thousand acres will be under rubber. The trees take about 6 years to mature, and I am' informed that when they are this 76 per cent, of the trees will yield from Boz to 12oz of dry rubber, which, if of the best quality, wiR bo worth about 6s per pound. As is well known, the demand for rubber has greatly increased, during recent yenre. liach motor bus, for example, consumes about £200 worth a year in tyres, and each motor ear £50 worth. According to one authority, £2,500,000 worth of rubber per annum will bo required .for the motor bus industry alone, not to speak of cars, bicycles, etc., so that there is little, prospect of prices falling,'and this new industry in Samoa ought to prove a very lucrative one. I had tho opportunity of seeing some of the rubber trees topped. It is a very simple operation. A number of incisions about 6in long are inado in the bark, and from these the rubber exudes in the form of a milkfluid, and is caught by a small vessel placed below to receive it. This process is repeated each day until tho treo is sufficiently,bled, and it i 6 then permitted to rest and recover. LABOUR. .Most of tho labour on tho cacao and rubber plantations is dono by Chinese ocolics. Thcso are recruited 'in China, and are under contract for three years, at the end. of which period thoy must, unless tho Government consents to a'renowal of tlio agreement, return to their own country. Tho ftrct, batch was secured in 1903, and at tlio end of their term half wcro allowed to remain for a further three years. The recruiting expenses amount to £18 a head. This sum. is advanced by the Government in tho first instanoo, which recovers from luo planter at the rate of £5 down and ICte per month afterwards until tho whole is ( paid. The number of Chinese at present employed is about 1800, and tlie average wage paid, inclusive of fare each way, • amounts to 50s per month. This, however, is exclusive of board and lodging, which liavo to bo provided by tlie planter. There is not much trouble' in handling the coolies, though occasionally a gang will give trouble, and they aro' also'suspected of a number of thefts and housebreaking exploits which recently took place in Apia Intermarriago with the Samoans is forbidden, and tlio Sanioans «cnorallv look down on the Chinese as an iuforior lace, and do not- care to have much to 'do with them. In addition to these Chinese, black boys from the Melanesian Islands nrc also indentured, chiefly for tho cocoanut plantations, but their p'av is considerably less, DIPORTS AND EXPORTS.

The following figures will show t.he volume of trade done. In 1906 tlii total value of the imports amounted to £144,096, of which goods to tho value of £35,290 were from Germany; £85,077 from tlie English colonics j £13,634 from the United States: £4060 from England direct; and £5532 from other countries. There were exported in 1906: Copra, value £144,000; cocoa, £5070; which, with minor exports, brought the total up to £151,315. Of copra, which is tho principal export, 4800 tons were sent to Germany, 2515 tons to the rest of Europe, and 2310 tons to Australia. It will bo seen from tho above figures that the total imports from New Zealand and Australia more than doubled thoso from Germany. Generally speaking, foodstuffs seem to i>o imported chiefly from New Zealand, and hardware and soft goods from Australia. .Tti the tenders for supplies called for br the German Government, New Zealand brands arc sometimes specified. Tho Administration seems to give every uicouragcinent to tho legitimate trader of whatever nationality, and in this respect shows ii good examplo to other colonies. Samoa is a beautiful country, witli a luxurious, if not very invigorating, climate, and, in my opinion, there is bound to be a considerable increase of trade in the near future, of which, I trait, New Zealand will continue to enjoy a ggnc.rp.us 6bfe,