xii Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



of interest, the long wait and the accumulation 

 of expenses during the seven years it takes 

 before a coco-nut plantation comes into bearing; 

 but with a planter on his own estate, cultivating 

 other products for the sake of their annual 

 income, the amount of capital required to 

 become the possessor of a rich coco-nut planta- 

 tion is not excessive, and should not exceed 

 10 or 12 per acre, including every expense 

 except the planter's own labour and interest on 

 capital. 



At the present price of coco-nuts 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 

 10 per annum, so that a comparatively small 

 plantation of a couple of hundred acres would 

 yield a net income of ,2,000. 



I see no reason myself why the various 

 Governments affected should not give finan- 

 cial encouragement to the establishment of 

 coco-nut estates by helping the planter over 

 the period which elapses before the plantation 

 comes into bearing. If this were done it would 

 open up tropical possessions in a way that we 

 can scarcely realize. It would increase the 

 ties with the European countries, and find good 

 wholesome food for their teeming millions. 

 It would increase the purchasing power of 

 tropical countries, and would open up profit- 

 able opportunities of employment for young 

 men who wish to go there. 



