FIJI PROSPEROUS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17173, 1 February 1930, Page 10

FIJI PROSPEROUS

RECOVERING FROM HURRICANE “Dairying has .come to stay and Fiji is fast recovering from the effects of the hurricane and Hoods which occurred early in December,” stated Mr. Henry Marks, Mayor of Suva, who arrived at Auckland by the Nlaragar La Basa, on the island of Vanua Leva, was about the centre of the 'hurricane, and the property of the Colonial Sugar Refining Co., sustained the principal damage, the mill being unroofed and staff houses being practically demolished. The crops did not suffer to a very great extent because the hurricane occurred between the seasons. A loss of about 10 per cent, for the year in the coconut crops throughout the group had been estimated as a result of the stripping of young nuts from the trees. “Dairying has come to stay, and prospects arc very bright,” Mr. Marks continued. Large areas had been covered by Hood waters in December, but that had left a very Hue silt, and grass was now coming on better than ever. Pineapple canning is going to provide a bigger industry than sugar before long, in the opinion of Mr. Marks. He said that two small companies were now exporting pineapple, ancT great hopes were centred in the operations of the Hawaiian Pineapple Co., which appeared to be well satisfied with the results of its experimental plots. 'Large plantations were being established. He believed that Fiji would prove to he a better country for pineapple growing than Hawaii. “Business is steady in Fiji, and the country is without doubt going ahead. We who live there can sec it,” Mr. Marks added.