COCONUTS AS AN INVESTMENT 181 



the situation ; it is a deliberate forecast based upon 

 a clear understanding of every feature connected 

 with the industry. Sir William Lever has prac- 

 tically demonstrated his conviction by arranging 

 for the planting of several millions of coconut trees 

 in the vast territory that his company has just 

 undertaken to develop in the Belgian Congo. His 

 estimate of the cost of acquiring a rich plantation 

 and bringing it up to the point of production is 

 from 10 to 12 per acre, including every expense 

 except the planter's own labour and interest on the 

 capital sum invested, so that, at the present price 

 of coconuts which, be it remembered, is distinctly 

 on the up grade the net income derivable from 

 each acre in full bearing is over 10 per annum. 

 Therefore even a comparatively small estate must, 

 unless grossly mismanaged, produce a large income. 



Every competent authority endorses the view of 

 this shrewd industrial magnate that, particularly 

 at this juncture, capitalists, both large and small, 

 can find an exceedingly profitable field for the 

 employment of money in this industry. It is 

 necessary, however, to take full advantage of the 

 present position if the best investment results are 

 to accrue. 



The ingrained conservatism of our race is a 

 characteristic of which most of us are proud, 

 though we freely admit that it occasionally stands 

 in our way ; it may be that here as elsewhere the 



