a6g 



THE TROPICAL AGRICOLTURIST, 



[Oct. I, i8H6i 



varying from £5 to £8 peranaiun." The cost of Indian 

 introduction per caput is £21 16s 5d exclusive of £7 10s 

 for return passage mouey ; the cash inducement is 

 annually appealing with increasing force to the Fijian ; 

 yet oat of a population of 114,000, but 600 are engaged 

 as yearly laborers. The explanation given is that: — 

 •' This state of things has been contributed to by the 

 Fijian's high idea of his own importance as a laborer 

 and his exorbitant demands at a time when they had 

 to be conceded." This of conr.se supplies the fullest 

 explanation which could possibly be required. But re- 

 verting again to the coolie; it is remarked that "con- 

 stitutionally tlie ludiau coolie seems to adapt himself 

 to whatcvc^r coluny he emigrates to. The climate of 

 Fiji a])pcars to be admirably adapted to him and unlike 

 the Polynesian he has always formed one of the 

 healthiest factors in the population of Fiji. They are, 

 however, by no means such good workers as the Polyne- 

 sian ; while it woidd hardly be an (exaggeration to say 

 that the criminal statistics of the colony date their 

 existence from the arrival of the coolies. It cannot 

 but be regretted that while due recocjnition is given to 

 the value of the work performed by the coolies, both 

 on and off estates, the necessities of the colony no 

 less than the crying calls of humanity called for the 

 substitution of Indian for Polynesian and Fijian labor." 

 Concluding this subject the foUowinu may be quoted 

 from the section devoted to Polynesian labor and it may 

 be read in conjunction with the above statement that 

 the Indians are " by no meaus such good workers as 

 the Polynesians." — " It cannot be said that Polynesian 

 labor is really cheaper than that of the Indian im- 

 migrants, but being more docile and more trustworthy 

 the Polynesian is preferred to the Indian by most 

 planters who have had experience in working them. 

 It h.is been found that the Polynesians are not suffici- 

 ently strong to undergo constant work in the sugar- 

 cane fields and the Government have 'therefore dis- 

 couraged their employment by large sugar planters. 

 On the coconut and fruit plantations on the other hand 

 these people are quite at home, and are generally pre- 

 ferred to any other class of laborers. Of the Fijian 

 it is further remarked : — " It may be said that his oc- 

 cupation is gone. Eminently fitted for such work as 

 clearing a plantation his services were, on plantations 

 being opened up, eagerly sought ; but now that work 

 of this nature has for the most part been completed the 

 supply of native labor exceeds the demand." There is 

 in the whole of the remarks on the labor question a 

 great deal that is undeniably true^ but there is also 

 a great deal which will afford Fijian planters food for 

 reflection and comment. — Fiji 2'ime.-<,Ju\y 21st. 



HOMING PIGEONS. 



Sir, — I noticed in your issue of the 28th August 

 last an article on homing pigeons, by " Ilomer." 

 Allow me to point out that, not only in this country 

 but in Europe also, the carrier pigeon has been 

 immortalized by poets and historians as the messen- 

 ger pigeon sent out to friends at a distance from 

 beleagured cities with written messages, and in such 

 instances the preference has always been given to 

 the carrier. But in this country, from the manner 

 in which these birds are reared, they are not equal 

 to sustained flight, and from the want of practice 

 often grow too heavy for the purpose. For homing 

 pigeons, carriers should be selected when about two 

 months old, and they should be flown morning and 

 evening for an hour or two, with the double object 

 of allowing them to exercise their wings, and to 

 acquire powers of sustained flight, as also to make 

 themselves familiar with the surrounding country in 

 which their home lies, after which they should be 

 taken out either daily or two or three times a week 

 to a cfrtain distance, which should be gradually 

 prolonged, and then let loose, to And their way 

 home. When they can in time accomplish distances 

 of one or two hundred miles they may be considered 

 fully trained. I have said carriers are the best kind 

 of birds to form homing pigeons, but I have been in 

 the habit of crossing carriers with the wild blue or 

 rock pigeon, and their young make excillent homing 



pigeons, as they do not grow so large as the carrier, 

 :ind they have the vigour o' great sustained flight, 

 which they inherit from the wild bird. I have now 

 some l.'nd of carriers as well as crosses with the wild 

 birds that would make excellent homers. 



Yercand, 8th September. John Shortf. 



— Madras Mail, Sept. 10th. 



THE OmENTAL BANK ESTATES' 



COMPANY. 



It must be remembered that there were no less 

 than nineteen Ceylon and four Mauritius estates to 

 be taken over cu bloc, comprising in the former over 

 10,000 acres, and in the latter over 11,000 acres. 

 Though the Ceylon estates as a whole left a margin 

 of profits, and were certainly far more saleable than 

 two years ago, yet it is fair to assume that they are 

 not all equally remunerative, and indeed, that some 

 of them being in the trantision state, between coffee 

 and tea or other new products, are not at present 

 paying their way. The subjoined schedule will enable 

 our readers to form an independent judgment on the 

 question: — 



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Note. — The figures for tea in the above table re- 

 present the acreage under this cultivation on 30th of 

 June last, but the figures in the other columns are 

 taken from Ferguson's Directory for the current year, 

 probably corrected to 30th of June 188."), and some little 

 alteration has taken place since then. Thn.s there was 

 an increase during that interval of about tiOO acres 

 under Tea, part of which is taken from the land 

 previously under coffee and cinchona. 



The amount of cash payable to the liquidator, on 

 account of these properties was £87,600 which ia 

 equivalent to an average of about £8 lOs per acre 

 or considerably loss than the current price of the 

 primeval forest fifteen years ago. But if we now 



