and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— November, 1912. 415 



of the land, from the little I have seen I judge 

 there is plenty of land in Mindanao fully equal 

 to the best in the F.M.S. What strikes me 

 particularly is that there is so much land ' get- 

 at-able' here for an undeveloped country, 

 which is, of course, on account of the very 

 long coast line. This is no small item in a 

 virgin country. Often one of the greatest 

 difficulties is that of transportation. When 

 one can combine the advantages of a new 

 country, such as having almost unlimited land 

 to select from, most reasonable land rents etc., 

 with good transportation one is indeed favoured. 

 The next point, and it is an all important one, is 

 that of labour. This is a far more difficult pro- 

 position for a stranger to size up with certainty. 

 All that I can say is that, after talking with 

 many employers of labour, nearly all seem satis- 

 fied and able to get all they want. It would un- 

 doubtedly take longer here to build up a labour 

 force than it would where it is more organised 

 but if well housed and fed, regularly paid and 

 thoroughly looked after, which are essential 

 on all estates, I have little doubt the labour 

 would compare favourably with many other 

 countries. It is difficult to say just what the 

 average price of estate labour now is in the 

 F. M. S., but it is just about one shilling per 

 day for a man. Chinese get more, Indians less. 

 Then there are Malays and Javanese, and the 

 pay is notthe same all over the F. M. S. Neither 

 is it the same on all estates in the same State. 

 Now we come to capital. In this respect there 

 can be no doubt thac the F. M. S. has every 

 advantage. There you have a past to point to. 

 Actual results go a long way. Capital is rather 

 shy of going into new holds unless some special 

 inducements are offered. Then there has been a 

 body of planters built up there whom the finan. 

 ciers in London know and if one of them reports 

 favourably on a proposition it will go through. 

 Unfortunately the political situation here keeps 

 capital out until a definite policy is defined. 



WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF COGOA. 



At a moment when we are in the midst of an- 

 other "Battle of the Cocoas," it is very inter- 

 esting to compare the statistics of the world's 

 production and consumption of the much- 

 vaunted drink, which, though introduced to 

 Europe in the sixteenth century, was clearly 

 familiar to the Aztecs, whose remains in Sou- 

 thern America still 6xcite our wonder. Let us 

 first glance at the figures for San Thome, tor 

 reasons upon which it is unpleasant to dwell : — 

 In 1901 the produce was 16,983 tons, in 1905 

 25,3'W tons, in 1909 30,261 tons, in 1910 36,665 



tons, and last year 35,000 tons. The Portuguese 

 Colony stands third on the list of producing 

 countries. Our own Trinidad is in the fifth place 

 with 21,220 tons last year ; the production had 

 been 11,943 tons in 1901, 20,018 in 1905, 23,390 in 

 1909, and 26,231 tons in 1910. But we have still 

 better reason for congratulation. The Gold 

 Coast is at the head of the list with 40,357 tons 

 last year. This was a big leap from 1910, when 

 the production was 23,112 tons. In 1909 it was 

 20,534 tons, the export value being put down at 

 £386,571 ; in 1905 5,606 tons, and in 1901 only 

 997 tons. In short a great industry has been 

 practically created within a decade. The world's 

 production ten years ago was 105,723 tons 

 (2,205 lb.); last year it was 244,545, an increase 

 of 138,822 tons, nearly a third of which must go 

 down to the credit of the Gold Coast. 



The figures for the raw cocoa consumption of 

 the world cannot for various reasons be stated 

 with so much detail or certainty as those for the 

 production, but it seems that it has risen by 

 80,000 tons within six years. In 1905 the imports 

 into the United States were put down at 34,958 

 tons ; last year's consumption is given as 

 58,968 tons. Germany stands second with 50,855 

 tons, an advance of 7,000 tons in the year, and 

 an advance of 10,000 tons over 1909 ; her total 

 in 1905 was 29,663 tons. France comes third as a 

 consumer : in 1905 her imports were 21,748 tons, 

 in 1909 23,254 tons, in 1910 25,068 tons, and last 

 year 27,840 tons. The United Kingdom has not 

 bfien quite so enthusiastic in its appreciation : 

 the imports in 1905 were 21,106 tons, in 1909 

 24,264 tons, in 1910 24,082 tons, and last year 

 25,396 tons, an increase of some 700 tons per year 

 for the past six years. Clearly we have a goodly 

 amount of leeway to make up to get into line 

 with the American and German peoples. — Gro- 

 cers' Journal, Oct. 12. 



THE LIME JUICE INDUSTRY OF 

 mONTSERRAT. 



In tho seventies, we see the beginning of the 

 planting of the lime-fruit trees by Messrs. Sturge 

 in Montserrat. Each year the number of 

 plants increased until now the estate of the 

 Montserrat Company already covers over 650 

 acres, and contains from 140,000 to 200, 01)0 trees, 

 and more than 100,000 gallons of pure lime fruit 

 juice have been imported in one year into 

 England. 



No more beautiful sight can be seen than the 

 lime-tree orchards when the trees are laden with 

 their bright fruit, and at the same time the air 

 is pervaded with the luscious fragrance of the 

 blossom. 



