New Guinea
pp. 47-49 · Read in the full issue
Cocoa-Growing In
A Planter’s Experiences
Letter to the Editor APROPOS your article on “Cocoa- Growing in New Guinea,’’ in the February issue, I would like to make the following observations.
Firstly, the cocoa-growers in this Ter ritory are most appreciative of the Com monwealth bounty. It has been, and is, a great help in establishing a badly needed new industry, and has stimulated an interest in a crop which could be grown here on a large scale, and which would be a valuable alternative to copra at its recent IoV prices. As to whether the grower gets the full benefit of the bounty, it is a debatable point.
The main thing, as the Department of Agriculture and some growers realise, is to turn out an improved bean, which will fetch a good price on any market, and to keep on improving, by means of careful selection and budding etc. Work is being done on these lines at this moment.
The present output, which is very small, comes from only a few sources, and some of it is not cured any better than Accra beans. This is apt to give all New Guinea beans a bad name. Some growers, however, have gone to a lot of trouble and expense to improve the quality of their product by looking around in other tropical countries, and by obtaining advice from officers of the Department of Agriculture and from Mr.
Tyler, the General Manager of Nestle’s factory at Abbotsford, N.S.W., and acting on that advice.
The resultant prices paid by Sydney buyers for these improved beans have not been encouraging; in fact, £A3I/10/ per ton was paid the writer for his last shipment of tons of carefully cured, sundried, and polished beans. This is no better than the ruling Accra price, and to rate them with native-cured Gold Coast cocoa is certainly disappointing. Recent quotes for good New Guinea beans from overseas have been round the £A4S mark, which is about the present price of Trinidad cocoa.
It would appear that if one realises £ 32 plus £ll bounty per ton in Australia for a bean which would sell at about £45 overseas, the person who benefits most by the bounty is the buyer, who is gett ing a good bean at Accra price.
But, having established connections in Australia, and having regard to the bounty, not to mention the help and ad vice from Mr. Tyler and Mr. Foreman, Nestle’s factory manager and chief chem
ist respectively, in Sydney, one would prefer to sell one’s beans in Australia if possible, and to hope that eventually they will be recognised as superior quality.
Grading, by the way, is done very thor oughly at the factory, and it is not necessary for the grower to do this, un less some of the overseas markets prefer it. Likewise, washing is generally con sidered undesirable, as it tends to weaken the shell, and the loss of weight is con siderable.
Since copra slumped, nearly 2,000 acres of cocoa have been planted in New Guinea, and most of it has yet to reach bearing stage. The demand in Australia is between 6,000 and 8,000 tons per an num; the yield from the above area is not likely to exceed 500 tons per annum, so there is ample scope for expansion in planting.
The industry is likely to expand, and if grafting and budding can do anything to improve the quality, which it must do, New Guinea cocoa-buyers may one day command a really good price on any market. The industry is yet in its in fancy and is bound to have its difficul ties.
I am. etc.,
U. S. Hore-Lacy.
Garua, Talasea, New Guinea, 10/5/36.