Iniroductioii xxv. 



the sake of their annual income, the amount of capital 

 required to become the possessor of a rich coconut planta- 

 tion is not excessive, and should not exceed /'iotO;^i2 

 per acre, including every expense except the planter's own 

 labour and interest on capital.' 



" At the present price of coconuts — and there seems no 

 immediate prospect of this price being reduced'- — the net 

 income to be derived from an acre of fully bearing coco- 

 nuts would be £io per annum, so that a comparatively 

 small plantation of a couple of hundred acres would yield 

 a net income of ^2,000." 



And now we come to what is, to my mind, the most 

 important paragraph of the Foreword so far as the develop- 

 ment of the latent resources of the Empire is concerned. 



" I may call attention here," Lord Leverhulme went on 

 to say, " to the enormous impetus that has been given to 

 the development of Canada by the very simple help that 

 the railway companies and landowners have given to 

 emigrants in the way of starting them with a homestead 

 into which to move on arrival on the prairies. This simply 

 means that by making it possible for families to move into 

 Canada, that country has become prosperous and success- 

 ful. The money for these homesteads is paid back by the 

 emigrants, and I believe that no loss has resulted under 

 'this systfem. ■ I'f' 'planters We^e sirrtilarly 'ehcoura^ed in the? • 

 Tropics by the help of a little capital and a bungalow, the 

 security being on the plantation, a rate of interest could be 



' This estimate has been challenged as being loo low. The challenge, 

 however, has been fully and successfully dealt with in the Foreword to 

 the second edition. 



^ This was of course written nearly five years ago. At present, once 

 controlled prices are removed, I should imagine the value of coconuts 

 would increase. Even to-day, or rather at the end of December, our own 

 West Indian Island of Trinidad — an important coconut-producing centre 

 which enjoys the competitive buying of the New York and United States 

 markets — was quoting £g per 1,000 (or selected nuts, put up in bags of 

 100, at the producing centre. 



