[JuNJi 1; 1903. 
^''fiiiteli la'Oj'a copiously than otbera. Tiiia ieaulfc iiiay 
'^'-iii-'sbuia' caseli be due to tho posiciou of tha 'trees ' as 
regarda 8'hada, soiland moiaiiue. ijut irrespective o£ 
. tliese iinporfcanb fiiccyra tijere can- be uo doubt bat 
oj.cBrtaiu trees are pliysieally more productive itiif-Q 
others uuder auy couditiou Ui! growth. 
'i!a£jpirig fcxgeriuieuta were iiiiida ou a tree, of tbe 
latter class, ouly 10 yeara old, with fairly good 
',riesuUa, and the tree has not diminiahed in vigour, 
'iiov would it have done so had 5 lb caoatchouc been 
extracted instead of 'ij lb. The flow of mills sap from 
the trunk of the tree was best during the months of 
October, November and December, very heavy raiu 
having fallen iu the latter part of September. Only 
five tappings of the root limbs were made in this 
■ , experiment, which is an insufficient teat. Boot tap- 
,ping3 are most productive during tiie first half: of the 
V ; calendar year, when the tree in deoiduoua and , the 
. ..■ .ground dry. During the remainder of the year the 
'.^ ,,trual? should be more productive than the root. The 
^- ' 'i-'es ilfca of tapping a number of trees at different 
f'' erioda and in different ways, throughout the year, 
ie given, and ahovr how irregular the flow of sap is 
'^' •'Tfli'en tapped at the wrong season and in the wrong 
J' ''place. 'I'hey alao show, that Id root-tappinga produced 
i'ii-a? ouncc-a of caoutchouc against 12 ounces in the same 
u.t .uumbar of tiuuk. tappiuf^ij, . la making these expeii- 
oifiaenta, the cui'.tior had to wuik with ptimitive 
jiojigi^ii^ri^ls aud unskilled li),bour, so ihi-.o ihe perceutnge 
aw»fiiWi'P_vvi^5ji«p^si}iera^|ejY'^^f ^'i-uj. 
'ti neY9 ,v/(.llo't it5 — ^"j. -j- ' nij \ -. oui -wl 
■J9l«7.0 I'l/ifa'-I .!5ii'.f.'-: . ; fi ')>i r.ii'iirjyi er!j 
'^Jl!^^ixfilu^,;y^imtk 'im th« year W02, We 
J,\^J^l■itial^ Vice-Consur at Apia states that the 
,,,j7>iiairistay of yauioa is cacao. There is, he says, 
Ij, J|ttle reason to doubt that 20 acres of cacoo ia full 
Kfip^eaviug yield p, substantial incorae. On the 
.". ,■ other hand thei«- are drawbacks, e.g., the possi- 
bility of hurricanes which will throw the plantations 
i , back Lluee years, and the danger from disease. 
10 3 Persons should nob go to Samoa to plant cacao 
arlJuiiloss they have at least a capital of l^UOO^. In 
otHfive years' time, from the date of planting, the 
iMrHji'ees should be in full bearins;, provided they are 
11 K(weU attended to dniing ohat period. Some people 
- Infsay they will bear .sooner, bub as an average state- 
a<i nvent the above !■? correct. ; k, 
''Samnan cacao was recently' qiioted'at 95' '^f.-^^^per 
"'/lb; in Hamburg, equivaleub to BL per cwfc. The 
trees have, iu most existing small -plantations, 
produced ab least sufficient to pay expenses in the 
fourth year, and when in full bearing from bhe 
.ifif tit year, onward, have so far exceeded the 
average oufpub of other countries. Hitherto no 
disease has manifested itself, and as a safeguard 
•'the C+overnnient has wisely prohibited the inipor- 
"'^felUon of seed from other countries. No doubt 
g.'yi^pritinuca the Vice Consul, there ia a great future, 
^.|.'m Samoa for plantation comijanies, assuming 
0 (tiiab the price of cacao does not fall with increased 
• (i-npvoductiou, There should be with proper manage- 
i., ..uuieut, very heavy dividends, 8ouje particulars of 
jiU ai i)laatation company hp\y. iat WQrkj Me, coatained 
"h In the report, .i-a 
' 'TheVice Consul adds that various enquiries from 
Englishmen reach his (Joasulate rcspecbing Samoai 
^r,.,■jfor their information it may be said that that 
■■ irrr 
(,i.jj!/:oUutry oilers no inducemeni; to needy immigrants 
ji,/,, i?/ any nationality. Knowledge of the German 
Jlinguaj^e by jieraous seeking employment in Apia 
1 : •' is: ncc3>s»ary. ,,, Trading an/| storekeepiug^ are, 
completely <ix\\MVit,<i<\,— Board Qf Trade Journal, 
;in,icli^. 
' ' fj'ui5Ii:NSL,AND',S INCEfiASK IJ7 OROW^M 
Meioournej Apul i9.— Prior to leaving for 
Sydney on fiidity last, ISir Georgi Taruer in- 
quired from the Syiiuey and lirisbane autho- 
rities as to whether, as auiicipated iu a receuc 
publication issued by the Mossmau Central Mill 
Company, there would he only a tew new appli- 
cations this season for a: rebate on white-grown 
sugar. He received a reply froui Brisbane to the 
effect that, while 1,511 farmers registered in 
Queensland last year as growers of sugar by white 
labour, the niimber ftli^S' yeajr was :i<§9S»rrH^Js4 
Aicstralian, Apul20,.', - sbob JiiMbnuqe 
. a oifj uj !■;;_!♦.■ i.,'-.!/5ii;t,.:.-.'j ir-G.iai 
GREAT FUrUEE, A-S; A, COFFEEf* 
HlHl n\ j-j^ f/ _ ,, , ■ .y^ i ■•u,t\, Vi\>\ 
Mr. £> Edwards, well-knowa m Colombo 
corameicial circles and ia Csylon genepally, 
has last month paid an intevestiag ten 
days' visit to the Auiuinialais. In conversa- 
tion with an 06.sc.' <;er representatives oh his 
return, Mr. Edwards gave "some interesting 
inlormacion espacially vegai:'ding the journey 
. jfco the Aunamalais whicl> he suggested m^ht 
jf^'he noted 
. .FOB THE BENEFIT OU PROBABLE, 
PIIOSPECTOR8. 
.. "JLieaving Colombo by the ss. 'Africa', on 
'9th April," he said, -'and Tuticbrin rail 
next morning I reached Podanur on the 11th 
at 7 a.m. On the 12th I travelled by tonga 
to PoUachi, 25 miles, slept the night at the 
travellers' bungalow and "tonga ed" on to 
the foot of the Ghaut the following day, a 
further 13 miles. Now for the climb ! 16 
miles by sliort cuts to my destination, the 
. biggesc piece of real hard work I have ever 
done. I should mention there is .-.^su 
A CART ROAD ALL THE WAY TO;^Boj 
ANNAMALAIS, ,^ - : noK 
but the heavy rains last NovetAhfet^tJlayed 
havoc with the culverts on the face; of the 
Ghaut, and wheel traffic has not yet been 
resumed. At the present moment, however, 
some hundreds of coolies are employed on 
the Work, and it is ejcpecfeed, that in two 
months some carts will be going through 
the whole way. The Annandalais greatly re- 
semble Haputale in lay of land, soil, olimate, 
&c., ahd I shall be surprised if this district 
is not better known befbre long. ■ The 'ellmate 
is perfection. .. f ' ''^ 
THE RAINFALL AVKRAGES ABOUT, 138 INCHES. 
'This may be considered heavy for coffee, 
bub it is not so in this district, where the 
soil is very porous with deep loam. There 
is not the slightest indication of wash. The 
dry months are December to Apiil-r.iust 
what coffee requires. Even at present low 
prices, coffee at four yeara old is leaving a 
fair margin of profit. The crop now setting 
is very fine indeed and stripping will again be 
necessary to save the trees trom over-beainng. 
Coolies are plentiful and the average of 
the check-roll is abotjt 28 oewtsj 
Xgainst our '34.- ■ ■■ 
\ made a point of seeing cooly Hce and 
