6i4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February 2, 1885. 



But water never comes to the surface simply as water; 

 it must come charged with all the soluble material which 

 it has encountered in its ascent to the surface; it brings 

 with it the nitrates, the sulphates, the alkaline salts and 

 compounds, which have been exposed far below to its solvent 

 action. "When a solid is dissolved in water it is no longer 

 solid, but is as liquid as water, and must go wherever 

 water goes. It cau part company with the water only 

 at or near the surface, where the water changes its form 

 and becomes vapor. But these salts lately dissolved in 

 water becomes solid again when the water is lost by 

 evaporation. The more severe and protracted the drought, 

 the greater the depth from which the water will rise, and 

 hence the greater its opportunity of meeting and dissolving 

 solids and bringing them in solution to the surface, where 

 they are deposited for the benefit of the ensuing crop. 

 During a drought then, that mightiest power in the 

 universe, that exhaustless source of all power, the great 

 sun, is drawing up from depths inaccessible to the spade 

 and the plow, the soluble matter of the earth, and putting 

 it where it is most useful to the farmer in the surface 

 soil. This water as it comes up brings what the farmer 

 needs, and only what he needs. It brings up only soluble 

 matter, and it is only soluble matter in the soil that can 

 feed the growing plant. The substances that the plant 

 derives from the soil are solids ordinarily; but they did not 

 get into the plant as solids — all come up into the vegetable 

 circulation in solution. 



Again, no mechanical reduction could put this material, 

 brought up by water, in so comminuted a condition. It 

 was lately dissolved, more finely divided than could be 

 effected by the boasted machinery of our day. When the 

 water leaves it, it is therefore in the best possible condition 

 for solution again. It is fully and freely available in 

 consequence of its excessive communication, far more so 

 than if the same amount of the same fertilizing material 

 had been ground and bolted by the most perfect machinery 

 at our command. 



A year of hard drought is sure to be followed, if the 

 seasons be moderately favorable, by a year of plenty. The 

 crop gets the advantage of all the soluble material drawn 

 up and deposited near the surface during the drought of 

 the preceding year. — Industrial South. 



PLANTING IN FIJI: SUGAR, COCONUTS. 



VATUWIEI AND ABDMOEE. 



(From our own Correspondent.) 



From time immemorial, to use a figure of speech, it has 

 been the custom to refer to Taviuni as "The Garden of 

 Fiji," and in the following I propose to indicate certain 

 of the grounds upon which its claim to the title rests. 

 The great sugar mill at Vuna and the two great marts 

 of commerce and exchange have somewhat overshadowed 

 two or three of the smaller estates, and visitors have, 

 perhaps, gone away thinking the stores and the mill were 

 the only things at Tuna. As your correspondent I wish to 

 dispel this ; ignorance, and give you items of information 

 concerning two orthree of the flourishing small plantations 

 on the Point. The first of these to which I shall refer 

 is Vatuwiri, the property of Mr. Tarte. This is the most 

 southerly estate on Taviuni, and adjoins the native town 

 of Nakorovou, on the south, and the "Wainiaku estate on 

 the north. It contains C70 acres, of which 470 have been 

 planted with coconuts, and the balance is being planted 

 as rapidly as labor can be obtained for the purpose. In 

 addition to this there is another property about two or 

 three miles inlaud named "Woodlands, which contains 316 

 acres, and is used as a cattle run. Around Vatuwiri 

 proper there are substantial stone walls and a row of 

 breadfruit trees. Many of the latter are bearing fruit. 

 These trees have a most pleasing effect. If they were 

 all placed in a row they would extend a distance of two 

 miles. "When th.,y are all bearing fruit Mr. Tarte will 

 have more than he can use, but he will find a ready sale 

 for the balance among the Indians. I had heard a very 

 glowing account of the nut-trees on this estate, from Mr, 

 Tarte and others, before I had an opportunity of seeing 

 them myself. But Mr. Tarte is a Victorian, and has come 

 from the "golden city of Balarat," and when I have heard 

 him talking about his nuts, I thought he was trying to 



sustain the credit of his colony and indulging in, what the 

 late Anthony Trollope would call a "little blow." When I 

 saw the nuts for myself I was forced to acknowledge that 

 the proprietor had understated rather than otherwise the 

 merits of his estate. I have seen most of the nut plant- 

 ations in Fiji, as well as some of the best bearing dis- 

 tricts at Lau ; but I have never seen anything to equal 

 the trees at Vatuwiri, at their age. I was taken through 

 a field that had been planted six years before, and the 

 trees were in full bearing and literally covered with fruit. 

 I could stand under most of them and touch th e fruit 

 with my hand ; some of them were not three feet out of 

 the ground, and in one or two cases the fruit was actually 

 touching the ground. Mr. Tarte has gathered 13,000 off 

 this field. To those who Im've plantations 6, 7, and 8 years 

 old, and not in full bearing, what I have written will be 

 regarded as almost incredible, and certainly hail I not seen 

 it myself I should have grave doubts concerning the 

 matter. I was taken through another field where the 

 nuts had beeu planted only four years before, and many 

 of the trees were covered with blossoms, and some of them 

 were bearing fruit. 



Now a word or two as to soil, planting, and cultivation. 

 To be brief, the soil is volcanic, is very much broken, 

 and very strong, and was very heavily timbered. It must have 

 taken a large sum of money to have cleared the land 

 for planting. Mr. Tarte, in addition to his stone 

 walls, has thousands of tons of stone on the estate that 

 he would make a present to any one who would carry 

 them away. I have heard that some of these nuts were 

 planted with the assistance of the crowbar. The rocks 

 were quarried, and a hole made, and a little loose earth 

 gathered into them and the nuts placed therein. The soil 

 is so very strong and the rows of nuts so very regular 

 that it does not require a very great stretch of the im- 

 agination to enable a person to believe this. The nuts are 

 planted 30 feet apart, and there is scarcely a "miss" on 

 the whole plantation. Mr. Tarte exercised unusual caution 

 in selecting the nuts for planting, and to this, together 

 with the excellence of the soil, he attributes his success. 

 I mean no disrespect to the proprietor of this estate 

 when I say he is a "horsey man," and knows that good 

 sires are essential to secure good stock. He has carried 

 out these ideas in planting his estate ; only the largest, 

 the soundest, and the be^t nuts were used and set to 

 "vara," and when they commenced to sprout, if they did 

 not show signs of vigor and vitality they were rejected 

 and not planted. Cattle have done the chief work of 

 cultivation, or rather of keeping the nuts free of weeds. 

 When they were young they were protected by stone 

 walls that were built around each nut high enough and 

 large enough to be an effectual barrier to the cattle. 

 There is every convenience on the estate as far as stock- 

 yards, &c, are concerned, and (he carrying capacity of 

 paddocks has been increased by planting English grasses. 

 Mr. Tarte kills two bullocks every week, and thus supplies 

 the white residents and the Polynesians on the various 

 plantations with fresh meat. There is a large and increas- 

 ing mob of mules on the estate, some of which are to be 

 broken in to harness immediately, to gather the nuts off 

 the plantation, and bring them to the drying vatas. 

 The proprietor has every confidence in these animals, 

 and thinks that in a few years they will supersede horses 

 in Fiji. 



The substantial stone dwelling-house is built in a very 

 pretty situation, on an eminence in the home paddock, 

 and commands a view of Koro in the south-west, and 

 Vauua Levu in the north-west. The laborers on the estate 

 are chiefly time-expired (or free) Indians and Polynesians. 

 There are of course the necessary outbuildings and hos- 

 pital for the comfort and convenience of the labor. Mr. 

 Tarte has a veryvaluable estate, and when it is in full bearing 

 it will yield him a handsome income. At present he runs 

 the plantation and the store, but when Vatuwiri is in full 

 bearing it is more than likely he will forsake "soap and 

 sardines," and concentrate all his energies on "copra and 

 cattle " which, if I understand him aright, will be more 

 congenial to his taste. 



Ardmore belongs to Mr. McCouuell, and contains about 

 30i I acres. I believe I am correct in saying it has a larger 

 sea frontage than any other estate on A r una Point. It is 

 all cleared and most of it is planted. There is a large 



