Edible Products, 



208 



[March, 1910. 



Cacao in Samoa has no determinable 

 season, and it is in fruit most of the 

 year round, and owners of plantations 

 often produce beans during every 

 month. Crops up to 1,800 lb. of cured 

 cacao beans are sometimes gathered from 

 good acres during the year, but the 

 average yield seems to be about 750 lb., 

 worth locally at this time (May, 1908) 

 about 17 cents per lb., or, say, $125 per 

 acre. Of this fully $100 are profit. 



Cacao in Samoa has a number of 

 enemies which have to be fought, but 

 experience seems to minimize those dis- 

 advantages which at one time were 

 thought to be highly destructive. In 

 fact it was feared that canker might 

 destroy the industry. But a proper 

 treatment has been found, ani canker 

 has quite disappeared from plantations 

 once badly infected. This fungus sel- 

 dom attacks trees which are less than 

 five years old, and formerly it was usu- 

 ally fatal. With the present cure it 

 may be eliminated at once ; a second or 

 third application is always successful 

 if the parasite is discovered in time 

 and the weather is not too wet : other- 

 wise the canker is difficult to attack 

 successfully. White auts entering the 

 plant from the roots never manifest 

 their presence until the trees are practi- 

 cally killed ; fortunately their attacks 

 are comparatively rare, not more than 

 a quarter of 1 per cent. ( 25) of the 

 planted trees ever being infected. At 

 one time rats and mice were exceed- 

 ingly destructive, as they eat into the 

 ripening pods in order to get the succu- 

 lent fibrous connections between the 

 seeds, and thus spill the seeds on the 

 ground.* Time has shown that where 

 plantations are kept in good order, 

 and supplied with cats and fox terriers, 

 and poison used occasionally, the rat 

 plague seems to have been all but elimi- 

 nated, and the cacao industry is in a 

 very healthy state. 



Last year's production only amounted 

 to 116 tons, but as many new acres 

 are now in bearing it is expected that 

 during 1908 fully 250 tons will be ex- 

 ported, while in 1909 and 1910 very large 

 sections will come into full bearing, so 

 that the output, it is hoped, will run 

 up to within the neighbourhood of 1,000 

 tons. 



* In Jamaica, our old friend Mr. Cradwick 

 has discovered, whilst spraying cocoa trees 

 against fungoid troubles with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture, that rats would not go on these trees. 

 How long the effect of such a spraying — 

 which, if it thus serves several purposes, 

 would be invaluable — will serve against rats 

 has still to be found. 



The planting of cacao continues un- 

 abated, and many rubber planters are 

 setting out cacao trees between the rows 

 of rubber, hoping to get a double crop 

 in this way. 



Good cacao lands are obtainable at 

 prices ranging from $3 to $50 or more 

 per acre, the price being chiefly regu- 

 lated by the position of the area offered 

 for sale. Generally the quality of the 

 land is pretty well the same. 



Chinese coolies brought into Samoa and 

 working under governmental supervi- 

 sion perform most of the work. They 

 cost the planter on an average about 

 $10 per month, which includes cost of 

 introduction, keep, medicines, hospital, 

 and return after three years. As a good 

 many Chinese elect to remain in Samoa 

 after their term of service is over, it 

 is evident they are well satisfied with 

 existing conditions. 



School facilities are fair for the lower 

 grades, no attempt as yet being made 

 to pass students beyond the common 

 grammar school education. Taxes are 

 moderate, and the general treatment 

 of foreigners by the official classes is 

 unexceptional. 



THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY. 



Opening out a Tea Garden. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXIII., No. 12, December 1, 1908). 

 Comparatively few new gardens are 

 being opened out now, but here and 

 there one is occasionally met with, — out 

 gardens are being added on to existing 

 centres, and there are few old gardens 

 which have not their annual few acres 

 in the shape of odd corners, etc. The 

 man who undertakes to open Out a new 

 Tea Garden is incurring a much greater 

 responsibility than he is usually aware 

 of. Of course, there are men who have 

 had a great deal of experience in opening 

 out, and to such this article may be of 

 little, if any, use, as they will most 

 likely know all about it. But as fewer 

 gardens are being opened out now than 

 formerly, there are correspondingly 

 fewer meu experienced in the work. 

 We may leave out the jungle cutting 

 and cleai ing, as the best methods of 

 going about this work will depend 

 greatly upon the kind of jungle and the 

 kind of labour, No two gardens will be 

 exactly alike in these respects, and 

 arrangements must be made to suit 

 circumstances. So we may leave cut- 

 ting, burning and clearing by simply 

 remarking that cheeseparing at the 



