JULV  I,  1895.1 
THK  TROPICAI- 
AGRICUI.TURIST, 
'3 
I’vOI.LTXd  TKA. 
TO  THE  EDITOll  OF  “ THE  PLANTER.’’ 
Sip, — As  economy  will  be  the  chief  feature  of  tea- 
making in  the  future,  it  is  not  too  soon  to  enquire 
whether  the  present  rolling  machines  are  all  that  can 
be  desired.  The  “ Rapid  ” roller  has  proved  to  be 
the  favourite,  as  well  as  the  latest  evolution  in  roll- 
ing machines,  but  it  takes  its  time,  and  it  takes 
plenty  of  power.  You  can’t  get  much  of  a roll  on 
leaf  under  30  minutes  rolling  whether  done  once  or 
twice,  and  I have  an  idea  that  some  of  the  old 
bag  machines  would  work  more  quickly,  although 
perhaps  they  will  not  put  the  same  twist  on  to  the 
leaf.  It  would  be  interesting  to  get  statements  of 
the  relative  power  of  bag  machines  and  box  machines, 
in  mashing  the  leaf  up  to  a certain  stage,  because 
I think  it  highly  prooable  that  the  bag  machines 
would  prove  more  economical  up  to  a certain  point. 
It  is  doubtful,  and  extremely  improbable,  that 
the  former  can  ever  supersede  the  latter,  but  it  may 
prove  to  be  a very  valuable  help  in  preparing  leaf 
for  rolling,  as  well  as  for  finishing  off  the  coarser 
leaf  separated  bj'  sieves  after  the  first  roll.  The 
packing  of  the  leaf  into  bags  would  form  a con- 
venient means  of  transporting  in  to  the  rollers,  and 
five  minutes  mashing  would  possibly  bring  the  leaf 
into  as  forward  a stage  as  ten  minutes  in  a box 
machine. 
I know  that  the  first  idea  on  reading  this  will 
be  that  bag  machines  are  sufficiently  proved  to 
impair  the  quality  of  the  tea,  and  I have  no  doubt 
myself  that  for  the  whole  operation  the  box  machines 
turn  out  a tea  of  superior  quality,  but  I urge  the 
point  solely  on  the  score  of  economy,  and  I believe 
that  the  very  slight  (if  any}  deterioration  of  quality 
entailed  by  a few  minutes  pounding  in  a bag,  would 
not  be  noticed  by  present-day  brokers  and  that  it 
would  not  reduce  prices  by  the  smallest  fraction. 
To  any  small  estate  which  conteuqjlates  increas- 
ing the  number  of  its  rolling  machines  I think 
that  it  would  prove  economical  to  purchase  a bag 
machine.  1874. 
BRITISH  NEW  GUINEA  AS  A PLAN- 
TATION COLONY. 
liY  .SIR  W.  M.VC(iHKfiOR,  K.C.M.d.,  M.I). 
(Extracts  from  Address  in  the  Town  Hall,  Man- 
chester, March  8th,  1803.) 
When  I was  invited  to  read  a paper  before  this 
Society  it  was  intimated  to  me  that  it  would  be 
desirable  that  it  should  touch  chiefly  the  commercial 
aspects  of  British  New  Guinea,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  more  purely  scientific  questions  connected 
with  that  place  should  not  be  altogether  forgotten. 
In  trying  to  comply  with  this,  we  shall  therefore, 
consider  briefly  the  country  and  its  surroundings, 
its  people,  its  present  exports,  and  its  potential  pro- 
ductions. 
Speaking  roughly,  the  island  of  New  Guinea,  with 
its  attached  small  groups,  extends  from  the  129°  to 
the  135°  of  East  Longitude,  and  from  the  equator 
to  the  12°  of  South  Latitude.  Only  something  more 
than  a quarter  of  the  great  island  belongs  to  the 
British  Empire,  but  even  this  fnxction  is  larger 
than  the  island  on  which  we  now  stand. 
The  latitude  of  the  colony,  it  is  worth  while  to 
remember,  is  frotn  3°  to  12°  South — in  other  words, 
it  is  as  far  from  the  equator  as  it  is  possible  for 
it  to  be  without  entering  the  hurricane  zone,  a 
position  which,  from  an  economic  point  of  view,  must 
be  considered  the  best  possible  for  a tropical  colony. 
Beginning  at  the  east  end  of  the  Possession,  on 
the  mainland,  a lofty  range  of  mountains,  running 
towards  the  north-west,  goes  from  practically  one 
end  to  the  other,  presenting  many  heights  of  5,000 
to  10,000ft.,  and  attaining  in  Mount  Victoria,  the 
highest  point  of  the  grand  and  magestic  Owen 
Stanley  Range,  an  altitude  of  13,000ft.  This  great 
mountain  system  is  wooded,  is  generally  steep,  and 
is  to  a large  extent  uninhabitable.  On  account  of 
their  height,  their  great  extent  from  east  to  west, 
and  their  dense  covering  of  vegetation,  they  are 
generally  cloud-capped  some  part  of  the  day  ip  .all 
seasons,  and  collect  an  immense  amount  of  rain, 
which  sends  down  rivers  that  are  numerous  and  great 
out  of  proportion  to  the  area  of  the  country. 
The  broadest  part  of  the  island  of  New  Guinea 
is  near  the  longitude  of  the  British-Dutch  boundary. 
Naturally,  therefore,  our  largest  rivers  occupy  that 
end  of  the  colony.  These  are  the  Fly  and  the  Purari. 
The  Fly  opens  into  the  sea  some  130  miles  east 
from  the  Dutch  boundary,  but  it  trends  towai-ds  the 
north-west,  and  brings  down  a large  amount  of  water 
from  Dutch  and  German  New  Guinea.  It  is 
navigable  to  a steam  launch  for  nearly  300  miles. 
Gold  is  found  in  its  sands  as  soon  as  tliose  are  met 
with,  after  an  ascent  of  over  400  miles.  There  may 
be  some  land  fifty  to  eighty  miles  from  its  mouth  fit 
for  cultivation  by  Europeans,  but  this  would  require 
special  examination.  The  Purari  like  the  Ply,  is 
not  very  inviting  to  the  land  seeker,  though  it  is 
hoped  that  from  it  we  may  obtain  good  service- 
able co.al,  as  it  traverses  a great  sandstone  dis- 
trict in  which  specimens  of  excellent  coal 
have  been  found.  But  good  land  for  growing 
sugar  cane,  corn,  or  any  similar  crop ; also  good 
sites  on  low  wooded  hills  for  coffee,  tea,  and  products  of 
that  kind  are  obtaina')le  on  several  of  the  gulf  rivers, 
with  good  water  carriage  to  the  spot.  In  connection 
with  these  sago  manufactories  could  be  established 
on  some  of  the  rivers,  for  there  are  extensive  tracts 
of  sago  trees  that  are  not  required  or  used  by  any 
natives,  and  that,  in  fact,  having  no  owner  become 
Crown  property  and  could  be  sold  or  let  to  any 
suitable  company. 
Further  east  there  are  many  small  rivers  and  salt- 
w'ater  inlets,  affording  water-carriage,  and  often  with 
good  alluvial  and  liilly  land  wliirli  would  be  con- 
venient for  the  planter,  and  which  could  be  obtained 
without  encroaching  on  the  native  or  alienating  their 
goodwill  in  any  way. 
The  north-east  coast  has  three  fine  rivers,  on  two  of 
which  there  is  a large  amount  of  sago  available  for  the 
manufacturer,  and  the  country  near  thehills  is  in  every 
way  extremely  pleasant.  The  islands  would  supply  some 
very  good  places  for  coconut  plantations,  but  they 
would  for  other  products  probably  be  inferior  to  the 
mainland.  Generally  it  may  be  said  that  the  inte- 
rior of  the  country  is  mountainous ; that  in  front  of 
the  mountains  in  the  western  quarter  the  country 
is  low  and  swampy,  and  that  elsewhere,  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea,  there  are  practically  all 
kinds  of  soils  and  positions. 
During  the  period  from  November  to  May  winds 
are  unsteady  and  northerly ; the  temperature  is 
then  highest  and  thunderstorms  are  of  daily  re- 
currence. From  June  to  November  a fresh  south- 
east wind  blows  in  from  the  ocean.  The  great  masses 
of  rock  forming  the  central  chain  of  mountains  are 
so  protected  by  their  dense  covering  of  vegetation 
that  they  do  not  become  heated  by  the  sun’s  rays, 
and  they  always  produce  cool  currents  of  air  at  night. 
The  heat  is  thus  not  great  for  the  latitude  of  the 
country,  probably  hardly  ever  over  90°  Fah.  in 
the  shade,  usually  about  five  to  ten  degrees  below 
that.  Probably  white  men  could  hardly  work  con- 
tinuously in  the  sun,  but  the  hardy  diggers  toil  on 
all  day  in  the  Louisiade  group,  being,  however, 
generally  protected  from  the  sun  by  the  forest 
in  which  they  work.  The  natives  have  to  do  a 
good  deal  of  labour  in  some  places  in  order  to  live, 
but  they  do  not  work  steadily,  and  naturally  do  not 
feel  ill-effects  from  the  climate. 
The  principal  form  of  sickness  is  fever,  which  is 
of  a more  tractable  and  less  severe  type  than 
tropical  fevers  generally  are.  If  reasonable  care  is 
exercised  it  would  not  interfere  to  any  serious 
extent  with  planting  operations,  whilst  dysentery, 
ophthalmia,  venerial  diseases,  and  other  contagious 
maladies  would  cause  neither  loss  nor  trouble,  unless 
these  maladies  are  introduced  from  beyond  the  colony. 
It  is  only  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  could  hardly 
be  a favourable  place  for  white  children,  and 
probably  it  is  not,  speaking  generally,  a country  in 
which  European  families  should  be  reared.  It  is 
more  a country  for  outdoor  lalmur  by  coloured  men 
under  white  supervision.  But  under  cover  a Euorpean 
can  work  at  anything  without  detriment. 
