NEW GUINEA.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18346, 4 June 1931, Page 3

NEW GUINEA.

GREAT POSSIBILITIES. AMAZINGLY FERTILE COUNTRY. AGRICULTURAL POTENTIALITIES. (John A. Spencer, Field Engineer.) Apart from Australia New Guinea is the largest island in the world. It lies wholly within the tropics, between the Equator and latitude lldeg. 45min. south, and longitude 131 deg. east to longitude lSldeg. 30sec. east, and, if the smaller islands are included off the south-east and eastern extremes, the New Guinea territory as now controlled by the Commonwealth of Australia would extend easterly as far as the 155th meridian. The island of New Guinea, somewhat lenticular in shape, 'not unlike a pre-historic bird, has a linear extension of nearly 1500 miles and a greatest width of approximately 390 miles. If we include the islands of New Guinea and Papua the total now held by the British under' Australian administration would be about 180,000 square miles. The writer, who has spent many years in Papua arid' ex-German New Guinea, and has taken three wellequipped expeditions into both these territories in search of oil, in the course of which much unexplored country was traversed, has been Amazod at the fertility

and productivity of the soil practically over the whole areas covered, and apart from well-known potentialities of the country for gold, and possibly oil, it is obvious that great opportunities occur for agricultural development. On one occasion we went hinterland from the north-east coast, a distance of 80 miles, and reached what is known as the Sipik river plains. We were a fairly strong party, numbering 8 whites,' 21 police boys and many carriers. As by magic, a pile of food stuffs some 20 feet high was placed before my tent, comprising taro, bananas, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, yams, etc., topped up by two pi'gs and a huge roll of tobacco leaf. Two of my police boys could barely lift one yam.

On a return visit a year later the writer collected over 20 varieties of sugar. These were taken to Sydney and an expert stated that several of the varieties were entirely unknown. Naturally, the question arises, is thi cane indigenous to the territory, or how did it originate? The natives in this regions had never set eyes on a white man. We had Experience of a. horrible custom here. One of our house boys strayed away from camp; he was caught by the wild tribes, his head twisted, eyes to back three times, and then set going home. 'He managed to reach camp but died two days later from swollen tonsils. This habit once prevailed in New Britain and is recorded in the missionary annuals of Raluana. The natives we met were a sturdy, wellnourished tribe, wearing heavy black beards and entirely without do, thing. An expedition composed of Americans in search of sugar visited this region later and they, like the writer, were astounded at the wonderful growth attained by the cane grown by these primitive people. This expedition claimed having secured in Papua and the Sepik plains 170 varieties of cane. Although there are probably-millions of acres of rich virgin country on the Sepik plains, the approach thereto is attended with considerable danger, whether traversed by mountain track or via the Sepik river; but one easy access is assured and the growing of rice and sugar cane is undertaken by large developing companies, immense profits will accrue. The cost of the land from the Government is almost negligible; huge supplies of native labour are available and the

Soil fertile beyond conception, admirably adapted for developing the two great staple products mentioned On returning to Rabaul the writer visited Major Newport in charge of the Botanioal Gardens, and, although much sugar cane is grown there by way of experiment, he could produce nothing which could in any way compare with that grown by the Sepik river natives, and the Major freely admitted its superior excellence. The writer took a party hinterland from the New Guinea oil fields following the trend of the Danap river; here again similar conditions prevailed on a smaller scale—miles of sugar cane growing wild to a height of 24 feet or more, and within easy reaoh of the coast, immense areas of rich land waiting development. Native-grown tobacco, of which some fine samples were collected, grows prollflcally on the Danap river banks and has been cultivated entirely by the native, who simply selects the leaves when they reach a certain stage of growth, rolls them into bunches and hangs them up to dry for a few days. The writer makes no special claim as a tobacco expert, but can truthfully say that this native tobacco has a distinctive flavour and makes excellent cigars.

On this- expedition instructions had been received to make enquiries into the murder by nativos in the Samark district of a German planter named Hahl. It was definitely ascertained that this planter had been speared in his tent, and whilst yet alive had been

Trussod Up and Roasted over a slow fire. His own boys immediately ran away at the first sign of trouble, taking with them his guns. Later on a punitive expedition shot out the whole village of Samark. Papua would appear to offer the best opportunities for the development of staple products at present, being nearer the world’s markets and generally more easy of access, particularly in regard to deep anchorage and water transport facilities. Moreover the natives here have been brought into closer touch with civilisation and are expert agriculturalists. Within a short distance of Samarai are immense areas of *rich lands adjacent to the coast. On and about the Musa river an area of land approximately 100,000 acres can be obtained on the most favourable terms from the Papuan Government. Mr Evan Stanley, Government geologist for Papua, in his reports claimed that 'Papua is the “home of the sugar cane" and at Papua there are already native plantations covering large areas, consisting almost entirely of various types of cane. As a matter of fact; most of the Queensland sugar cane has been obtained from New Guinea, where there is to the writer’s knowledge at least 40 varieties. Experts who have examined the various canes from New Guinea, the adjacent territory, state that the country is admirably Adapted for Its cultivation.

In the matter of labour, at present there is a surplus in Papua of native labour owing to the fall in the price of copra and rubber. The average wage is £9 18s lid per year per native, who also has to be fed, the total cost being approximately £2O per year. Natives do not take kindly to gold digging or carrying but readily sign up for agricultural work, which is, after all, their natural occupation, and they are keen to a man on cultivating their own sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, tobacco, etc- 'Give the labourers a good slice of land, together with sympathetic encouragement in the way of advice in laying out and planting their food crops and you not only cut down the food bill to almost nil, but you will never be confronted with shortage of labour. A New Guinea native will do as much as a white man does in North Queensland at about one-twelfth the cost, which is in itself a huge saving advantage, apart from the fact that the native is at the job for which nature intended him, namely, agriculture. For those who contemplate embarking in the growing of commercial products under the most suitable conditions, the writer considers that the territories under Commonwealth control offer unequalled advantages; jthe average rainfall is certainly in exces of 130 inches per annum. It has been computed that the potential water power available in Papua is at least 10,000,000 h.p. What proportion ot this force would be profitably utilised Is uncertain, owing to the absence of a hydraulic survey, but one has only to consider Norway, Germany, Niagara and Tasmania to understand what can be achieved with this enormous quantity of available water power, for there many commodities are now manufactured on a large scale, which before the introduction of electricity supplied by cheap water power, were almost unobtainable through cost of production.