1'58 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, tSEPTEMBER i, 1885. 



plant up a further acreage, which I still wish to in- 

 crease by cutting off two or three bulbs from the 

 original stools and planting them cut. This, I sup- 

 pose, is the best way to extend as 1 have no plants, 

 although some slight injury may be done to the plants 

 from which t e bulbs are cut, and it must to a 

 certain extent impede their growth. At the same 

 time as I planted the clearing under shade, I put 

 out about 40 to 50 bulbs entirely in the open so 

 as to be able to compare the difference in the growth 

 of the two. The latter have formed bigger stools, 

 are not so tall as those under shade ; some of the 

 leaves, the oldest, have a yellowish tinge and none 

 have flowered. They look robust and are better than 

 I expected. 



Weat!ie>:—The enclosed table will give you all in- 

 formation legarding temperature and rainfall here for 

 last and previous years : — 



TAKEN AT ALPHA ESTATE, TAVIUNI. 

 Hygrometer. 

 Month. Rainfall. Ga. m. Noon. 



inches. D.B. M'.B. D.B. W.B. 

 January ... 22.14 73 71 84 78 



February ... 16.07 75 72 85 79 



March ... 13.54 74 73 86 81 



April ... 7-99 72 69 8G 80 



May ... 8-65 70 68 83 76 



June ... 4-56 68 65J 79 73 



July ... 2-60 C8 63 78i 73 



Aug .. 2-89 (« 63 78 73 



Sept ... 12-97 68 66 80 76 



October ... 4-11 66 63 82 73 



November ... 7-30 70 68 81 74 



December ... 3-59 71 69 86 79 



Total ...107-31 70 64 82 76 



Year 18S3 .. .183-11 71 65i 81 76 



,, 1882 ...110-55 



Elevation 1,0U0 feet above sea-level. June, July and 

 August were very dry months for this elevation. Last year 

 the rainfall for these months -nas 1366, 12-86 and 9-50 

 respectively. There has been a longer drought this year 

 than has been known for many years past in Taviuni. 



A. J. Stkphexs, 

 Observer. 



Suijar. The sugar planters have been despondent 



lately owing to the fall in the price. Since I last wrote 

 to you I have not been to the Kewa and Navua, the 

 principal sagar-growing rivers, so am unable to give you 

 all the information I should wish to do. Planters still 

 Eay they cannot make the cultivation pay with present 

 rates ruling. The largest mill ou the Navua and the 

 plantations couneoted with it have lately come to grief 

 and wra sold the other Any. The labourers, over 5C0, 

 have all been removed. This is bad for the Navua in 

 particu'ar and sugar planting in general, as such a 

 collapse will frighten other capitalists. On the other 

 hand two or three new mills have been erected ; one on 

 Mango, an island to windward, owned by a Mel- 

 bourne Co. and managed by a brother of Mr. 

 Borron in Ceylon ; another on an inland to the 

 -north of Viti Levu ; and one on the Pa coast in 

 Viti Levu, owned by the new New Zealand Sugar 

 EetJDing Co., 1 believe. The sugar made is of first- 

 rate quality, and it is to be hoped all thee mills 

 have a prosper. ais future bi fore them. If sugar cult- 

 ivation turns out unprofitable, it will almost be a death- 

 blow to Fiji. I have often wondered since my residence 

 here how it is sugar has never done well in Ceylon. 

 You have just as good a climate and as varied 

 and many advantages in the way of cheap and 

 plentiful labour, cheap transport, &c., and I feel 

 cmviuced if you could only hit upon the proper 

 kind of cane, sugar planting would prove a grand 

 thing in Ceylon. Every eflort ought to be made to 

 introduce all kinds of cane and try them in dif- 

 ferent parts of your island. I know the experiment 

 liaa been tried ; that mills have been erected ; that 



experienced men have looked after the cultivation, 

 and that large sums of money have been lost ; but 

 still, different kinds of cane have since been dis- 

 covered and some of these might prove a thorough 

 success where the others were total failures. Whether 

 it is worth while to go in for cane culture in face 

 of the enormous beet-sugar manufacture, which 

 I conclude keeps, and is likely to keep, prices down, 

 is a question for thofo most interested to decide ; 

 but that cane could be grown and made to yield 

 a good percentage of sugar if a suitable variety 

 were introduced, I feel certain after what I have 

 seen here. 



Coconut Cultivation. — This combined with cattle is, 

 at the present time, the moat satisfactory here. 

 Those who possess large properties can make a fair 

 profit after paying expenses, and I don't know of 

 another cultivation which is doing the same. The 

 Ofvners of smaller properties can jog along comfortably 

 without getting into debt. If one can combine 

 cattle with the coconuts all the better. There's a 

 market for fat stock and the beasts thrive and fatten 

 well. The stock originally came from New Zealand 

 and Australia. There 's no disease as yet and no 

 leeches, ticks, &c-, to bother them whilst grazing. Fat 

 beasts will run from 600 to 800 lb., and the 

 butchers will give from £S to ^12 for them on 

 the place. The coconuts are much smaller than 

 yours and take as a rule 5,000 to 5,500 to make 

 a ton of copra. You hear somttiraes of 4,500 pro- 

 ducing a ton. and sometimes it takes as many 6,000 

 and over. The price of copra at present is from 

 £9 lOs to £10 lOs per ton in Levuka. There is always 

 a demand and any quantity can be sold. The major 

 portion goes to Germany. No coconut oil is made for 

 export. Fibre and bristles are occa^ioEally sent in 

 small quantities by ope or two planters to the Australian 

 market, but the demand seems to be a poor one. Larger 

 quaotities would doubtless be sent if freights were 

 lower. Ceylou, I fancy, can undersell Fiji in these com- 

 modities. No coir matting is made out here which is 

 a pity, as there ought to be a ready sale for it. 

 Some of the coconut planttrs have enquired about 

 a work on coconuts. 1 see you are publishing cue. 

 Please forward me copies. 



I will now bring this lengthy epistle to a close. 

 A lot of public meetings have lately been held all 

 over the group for the purpose of trying to git Fiji 

 annexed to New Zealand. The large majority seem to 

 fancy that if it is done our condition would be greatly 

 benc'fited. You will see full reports in the iiji Times 

 which I conclude you get.— Yours truly, A. J. S. 



[A good, sensible letter. We never believed in coffee 

 in Fiji: sugar ought to be its staple, and tea is likely to 

 be a success. The soil and climate are better for sugar 

 and cattle than ours in Ceylon but labor is the diffic- 

 ulty, especially for tea.— Ed.] 



PLANTING IN CEYLON AND MYSORE. 



{Notes hy "Aberdonensis.") 



"ECONOMr" AS A FINE ART— THE AGENT-V. -A.- 

 E.STIM.WE SYSTEM VS. THE nAPPy-GO-LUCKY NO-WIEI.'K- 

 KOLL-ACCOUNT SYSTEM- WEEDIMO UNTIL TIIERE-ARE-N-Q- 

 WEEDS VS. THE DIKTY-AND-DIGGING PEACTK'E— A PRO- 

 TEST AND SOMETHING LIKE TEACHING ONe'.S-GRAND- 

 MATERNAL-RELATIVE-TO SUCK-EGGS— FROM A MY- 

 SORIAN VISITOR. 



Facts are stubborn things and force their way. I 

 do not know whether personal contact with men 

 here, or actual observation of methods, or the con- 

 vincing power of facts and figures combined, have 

 most to do with this pressure on my mind ; but, the 

 more I see and hear, the more I am convinced. Men 



