390 



The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist 



I will not soon forget my last night at sogeri 

 — moonlit, cool and very clear — the poaked 

 thatch of the plantation houses casting queer 

 shadows; the Koru palms very stately under the 

 moon ; the heights behind treed to the lucent 

 blue scent falling through the moonrays from 

 the bloom of sipora, Seville orange and man- 

 darin to the moist earth, and the coffee shrubs 

 climbing up the foothills. 



There is a final comparison in respect of coco- 

 nuts and copra which must be received cum' 

 r/rano. The " 25 average" for Ceylon, of course, 

 refers to the whole island — neglected old native 

 gardens as well as plantations. There are many 

 plantations in Ceylon giving 40 to 60 nuts per 

 tree and special palms can be shown bearing up 

 to 100 to 125 equally with the few palms as yet 

 tested in New Guinea : — 



I have never seen such prolific bearers as 

 these coconut palms of the Maiwara. The eight 

 of them made plain the superiority of Papua as a 

 copra country over most of the established copra- 

 producing countries. In Ceylon the average 

 annual yield per palm is twenty-five nuts ; but 

 of the Ceylon nuts 5,00.) will make a ton of 

 copra. In the Solomons the average annual 

 yield is eighty to ninety-five nuts ; but it takes 

 7,000 nuts to make a ton of copra ; but the 

 Papuan coconut palm bears from 100 to 125 

 nuts per annum, and 5,600 nuts will make a ton 

 of copra. 



From the Government Regulations, we quote: — 



RUBBER. 



So far as our information goes, there is no 

 country better suited for rubber growing than 

 Papua. It possesses an immense area of easily 

 accessible virgin forest and scrub land lying 

 along a great portion of its 3,000 miles of coast 

 line, and great tracts of equally good land in 

 the interior. 



Healthy well-grown Para trees shoulc 1 each 

 average after the fifth year, 2 lb of rubber an- 

 nually, which at the present price (5s per pound), 

 would yield a gross income from 500 acres of 

 £21,500, or over 250 per cent, per annum on 

 the outlay, assuming that no catch crops were 

 grown. Even if rubber dropped to 2s per lb, 

 the gross income would be over 100 per cent 

 per annum. 



coconuts. 



This is a very remunerative and most reliable 

 industry, and one that should receive quite as 

 much attention as rubber cultivation. The na- 

 tural conditions are in every way suitable, and 

 skilled labour or extensive plant is not required 

 in the production of copra. Papua, being out- 

 side the hurricane belt, possesses a great ad- 

 vantage in this respect over such places as Fiji, 

 the New Hebrides, and Samoa. 



The trees begin to yield in five years, and 

 are in full bearing when eight or nine years old. 

 A full-grown tree should yield 60 nuts a year, 

 and with 50 planted to theacre, that area should 

 yield 3,000 nuts, or half a ton ot.copra, worth £10. 



INDIGENOUS PRODUCTS. 



The Territory of Papua possesses a wealth of 

 indigenous plants of commercial value that it 

 would be difficult to equal in any other coun- 

 try. These include large forests of sago, sugar- 



cane of the first quality, rubber, both tree (Ficuff 

 Rigo) and ^ine— the present market value of 

 which is between 4s and 5s a pound — also coco- 

 nuts, nutmegs, tobacco, ginger, bamboos, areca 

 palms, fibres, bananas, breadfruit, and vegeta- 

 bles of various kinds. 



Land is to be got on easier terms than, we sup- 

 pose, in any other British dependency ; but as 

 we said, not one word is said about " Labour,'' 

 and without it, what can any colonist do ? It is 

 absolutely ridiculous to suppose that even the 

 maritime part of New Guinea is suited for white 

 settlers to work either own lands. 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE AND 

 ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 



December 12th. 



Dear Sir, — In your leading article on the 

 above subject, in your issue of the 2nd inst. 

 [see next page] you draw the attention of the 

 veteran ' ' Cosmopolite " to a few casual remarks 

 of mine in a recent issue of your paper as to the 

 value of "artificial" manures. 



As the subject is of paramount importance in 

 an agricultural country, I wish to express an 

 authoritative opinion on the subject. I write 

 with some degree of authority as, I believe, very 

 few individual planters, certainly not coconut 

 planters, spend more on manure and use larger 

 quantities than I do. The annual average of the 

 manure I apply is about 100 tons of " artifi- 

 cials"and 25,000 cubic feet of cattle manure. My 

 opinions are, therefore, backed by a somewhat 

 extensive and prolonged personal experience. 



So much by way of introduction. I am en- 

 tirely in agreement with "Cosmopolite" as to 

 the great value of bulky manures, such as 

 cattle and green manures, chiefly the legumin- 

 ous nitrogen-gatherers. I am a firm believer 

 also in the great value of tillage ; but I 

 have no prejudico whatever against "artificial " 

 manures. I place great value on them as neces- 

 sary and valuable adjuncts to bulky manures. I 

 do not favour the highly concentrated, and, 

 therefore, the injuriously stimulating "arti- 

 ficials." 



In the Coffee ei - a, many upcoui.itry estates 

 had extensive cattle establishments and pigger- 

 ies. There was a great prejudice against these 

 manures chiefly owing to their high cost. First 

 of all the maintenance of these establishments 

 costs much in grass gardens, poonac, keepers, 

 &c, Then came the matter of transport, es- 

 pecially where large, central establishments 

 existed. It became necessary to open and 

 maintain cart roads. The transport on coolies' 

 heads, too, was very expensive. With the 

 decadence of coffee, cattle establishments died 

 out. 



A new era followed, with a highly-trained and 

 practical Scientific staff attached to the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens. By a . course of popular 

 lectures and practical illustrations oh the ex- 

 perimental gardens, the value of leguminous 

 plants as a manurial agent and a source of 

 humus was abundantly illustrated, Now an 

 inexpensive source, comparatively speaking, pf 

 course, of bulky manure js available to. everv 



