Samoa and New Guinea 1 2 1 



coco-nut trees. The benefit of the measure is 

 hardly yet apparent, for with the paucity of 

 care which the native is wont to bestow upon 

 the trees, they do not come into bearing until 

 the seventh year or even later. The advantage 

 of the measure will, however, be shown in a few 

 years' time in higher export figures. 



For Europeans the cultivation of coco-nuts 

 is only to be recommended under the two 

 following essential conditions, namely : first, 

 cheap and plentiful labour ; and secondly, plan- 

 tations laid out on a large scale. For small 

 holders the returns per acre are too small, and 

 if the expensive Chinese labour has to be im- 

 ported there is no margin for profit. It also 

 remains to be seen how the independent 

 Chinese labourer, specially imported and not in 

 his native place, will work and behave under 

 German discipline. The above conditions are 

 both carried out by the Deutsches Handel 

 und Plantagen Gesellschaft, and their estates 

 therefore deserve careful attention. Mr. Frank 

 Jepson, Government Entomologist, Fiji, who 

 visited Samoa in the early part of 1912 on 

 purpose to study the habits and report on the 

 extent of the ravages of the Rhino beetle 

 (Oryctes rhinoceros] in the island, when speak- 

 ing in his report of these plantations, said that 

 they " stand out as conspicuous examples of 

 what can be done to control the pest by clean 

 cultivation." Neglect, on the other hand, it is 

 asserted, has caused planters in Cambodia, 



