AUGU ST I, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



S9 



" NORTHERN AUSTRALIA.— THE RUM.JUNGLE 



PLANTATION COMPANY LIMITED. " 

 is tlie rather suggestive title of the Company pro- 

 posed to be formed for the establishment of a plant- 

 ation for tropical products in the Northern Territory 

 of Australia. We have received an abridged coj^y 

 of the Prospectus, from which we learn that the 

 capital is to be £50,000 in 10,000 shares of £5 

 each, the calls being limited to 60s for a period of 

 four years. The object is to cultivate coffee, cin- 

 chona and other tropical plants and for kindred purposes, 

 and the pi'ovisional directors include men of stand- 

 ing and means in Melboui-ne and Adelaide, as fol- 

 lows : — 



The Hon. .John Colton, M. L. A., Adelaide. 

 S. Cornish, Esq., (Messrs. Harold Bros., Adelaide). 

 .James Fergusson, Esq. (Messrs. Fergusson & Mitchell 

 Melhoirrne). 



llichard Guthridge, Esq. (Messrs. E. Gutlu-idge & Co., 

 Melbourne). 



Koliert Harper, Esq., (-Messrs. R. Harper & Co., Mel- 

 bo lurue). 



.To)ui Marshall, Esq., (Messrs. Anderson & Marshall, 

 Melbourne). 



DaWd Miu-ray, Esq. (Messrs. D. & W. Murray, Adelaide). 

 S. Newland, Esq., M. L. A., Adelaide. 

 John Eobb, Esq., Melbourne. 

 The mode in which the provisional directors have 

 gone to work can be judged from the .siibjoined ex- 

 I i act from the prospectus : — 



Tlio promoters, at their own cost, some months since, 

 sint Henry Poett, Esq. (who has had upwards of 20 

 yr:irs' experience in Ceylon as a coffee planter) to ex- 

 ])li)ro portions of the Northern Territory with the view 

 uf ascertaining its suitability as to soil, climate, rainfall, 

 .^'■., for the growth (chiefly) of coffee. 



This gentleman has made a careful examination of 

 si'vcral extensive districts, found laud every w,ay suitable 

 1 r the purpose in the neighbourhood of Collet, Finnis, 

 I Rum-,Tungle Creeks, and accordingly selected for the 

 iinoters several contiguous allotments, and paid survey 

 s on 1,000 acres and the first year's rents for 2,793 

 • ■s. 



riie conditions for obtaining a crown grant are the further 

 \ inent of sixpence per acre per annum for four years, 

 1 the cultivation within five years of one-half the area, 

 t lie payrai^nt of 7s Cd per acre, free of conditions of 

 1 Ivation. 



I hose selections are described as undulating aud well 



\' :>lered, with a rich chocolate soil, are onlythree miles off the 



I • I ■■emment road to Southport, which is distant only 30 



lis, and from which there is daily access by steamer 



r.almerston— the chief .shipping port of the territory. 



I In one of tlje selections an area has since been cleared 



:iiiil fenced for a nursery; the gi-ound has been trenched, 



4i;iiued, aud prepared for sowing; huts erected for labourers 



mikI seed of the most suitable Icind has been ordered from 



( 'lylon, so that advantage may at once be taken of the 



'^ent season for sowing. 



hi tlie meantiuie cinchona (from which quinine is ob- 



' ;u'd) has bceu sown, and, according to late advices, is 



already appearing above the ground. This is a product 



in very large demand, and its value as a source of profit 



to the Company can hardly be overestimated. 



To establisli a plantation, and bring it into full cult- 

 ivation will involve the expenditure of considerable capital, 

 wliich it is proposed to raise by means of a public Corn- 

 puny, to which the promoters will transfer their interest 

 in 3.793 acres of land, and the improvements already 

 made thereon, as at 28th February last, for a consideration 

 of £1,000 (which sum has already been expended) to be 

 paid in cash, and the issue to them of 1,500 shares in the 

 Company paid up to £^> each, wliich will only participate 

 in dividends at the same rMe. per share as others, anifnot 

 ■ according to the amount paid up on them. , ■ . 



But of even more interest to Ceylon readers as 



well as to would-be shareholders is the estimate 

 which the ex-Ceylon planter, Mr. Poett, has put 

 forward for the Company. It isae follows : — 



E.stimate made by Henry Poett, Esq., of the cxijenditure 

 on and retiums from a plantation of 1,000 acres, of which 

 one-half wiU be under cidtivation with Liberian coffee, and 

 in bearing in fom* ye.ars : — 



Ca,sh to be paid for promoters' interest 

 in 3,793 acres and inprovements ... £1,000 



Fencing, buildings for managers and 

 laboiuers, implements, tools, working plant 

 and stock ... ... ... 2,600 



Clearing, trenching, draining and planting 

 500 acres in four years ... ... 5,200 



Cost of importing coolie labour — wages, 

 provision.s, &c., in foiu- years ... ... 4,000 



Salaries — Manager and assistant and 

 other estabUshment expenses in fom- years 4,400 



Repairs, replacements, maintenance, &c. 3,000 



Contingencies ... ... ... 1,000 



Total expenditure in four years ... £ 21,200 



At the end of the fourth year the first crop would be 

 ready for gathering, estimated to be of the value of £3,500 

 at the plantation. 



In succeeding years the trees being in full bearing would 

 yield a return of £12,000, and the annual cultivation and 

 estabhshment expenses would amount to about £0000. 



From these estimates, which have been very carefully 

 prepared, it will be seen that in the fifth year, when the 

 plantation is in full bearing, it will yield a net profit of 

 20 per cent, per annum on a paid-up capital of £30,00, 

 wliich is in excess of the anticipated outlay. 



At this time also — that is, at the end of the fourth year 

 — the cinchona trees, of which there would be many 

 thousands, would be ready for barking, yielding from 

 21b. to 31b. of bark per annum, and of the value iu the 

 first year of 4s. per lb. As the trees become older they 

 yield a greater weight of b.ark, which also is richer in 

 alkaloids, and therefore of greater value per lb. The market 

 value of this produce varies from 2s to 15s per lb,, accord- 

 ing to its strength. 



We ought to know something about plantation 

 " estimates " in this colony, but the conditions under 

 which Mr. Poett has prepared his statement are so 

 different in many respects to those prevailing here, 

 that it is not easy to criticize his figures. It is, 

 e-vddent, however, that, apart from the cheapness of 

 the land, Mi". Poett's expenditure would be con- 

 sidered veiy liberal in Ceylon; for the cost of bringing 

 some 500 acres of land iato full bearuig with Liberian 

 coffee is put down at close on £40 per acre. Nor 

 can it be said that the estimate of the return of 

 £12,000 from 500 acres of such coffee is too high, 

 provided the plants gi-ew and produced as they have 

 done in Ceylon. But we question very much whether 

 tlie dry Northern Territory of Australia will ever show a 

 plantation carrying as much as 6 cwt. of coffee per acre 

 over 500 acres. The experiment has to be made however, 

 and although, in the Palmerston Experimental Gardens, 

 coffee, tea and cinchona have not been very suc- 

 cessful, the proposed plantations are on better soil and 

 higher ground. As regards cinchona the Director 

 of the Gardens seems to have given a decidedly 

 adverse opinion which has called forth the following 

 letter from Mr. Poett to the Melbourne Argus: — 



SiE, — The special correspondent of the South Australian 

 Kegister, in his last long and interesting communication to 

 that paper, exjiresses the opinion, formed on Mr. Holtze's 

 utterances, that cinchona will not succeed in the Northern 

 Territory of South Australia. 



Mr. Holtze is reported to have said : " It is all very well 

 to say it thrives in Ceykm, but there are high mountains 

 there ; wo haven't got these mountains." As I am endeav- 



