Samoa and New Guinea 139 



fuel, as they burn down too rapidly. It might 

 be a different story with coal, but then of 

 course the cost would be too high. 



There is still plenty of room for the further 

 expansion of coco-nut planting in Samoa, with- 

 out fear of the supply exceeding the demand 

 sufficiently to reduce profits to too low a level. 

 Granted that the Government succeeds in get- 

 ting every native to plant fifty trees per annum as 

 legislated for at proper distances apart then 

 there is no doubt that the export figures will rise 

 considerably within the next few years ; but 

 there are several strong reasons for doubting 

 whether this measure will ever prove effective. 

 There is nothing in Samoa to prevent planting 

 on unsuitable areas, and it would be expect- 

 ing rather too much from each native to 

 expect him to properly look after the 300 trees 

 which he would own at the end of six years. 

 The native Samoan is by nature so indolent 

 that it takes him all his time to cultivate even 

 the "kawa'' required for his daily needs of 

 sustenance ; to expect him, being unambitious, 

 therefore, to work without any natural incentive 

 is almost certain to prove a failure. 



Let us assume, for argument's sake, that 

 every one of the 1 7,000 adult males will plant 

 100 trees in the course of two to three years ; 

 this would represent a total of 1,700,000 palm 

 trees, which in a mature state are able to yield 

 the respectable quantity of 10,000 to 12,000 tons 

 of copra. It is hardly conceivable that many 



