Papua
p. 68 · Read in the full issue
Rice Fields In Western
“T HAVE just had a most interesting -I- walk into the Aramia River —a most amazing country,” writes Dr. G. H. Ver non, of Daru, Western Papua.
“I canoed for miles through swamps covered with wild rice in full grain, used only by the wild geese. Where this quite excellent wild rice will flourish, the rice of commerce could be grown without a doubt, and I can imagine this part of Western Papua, so different from any other part I have visited, one huge ter rain of terraced rice fields. ‘‘The wild rice grain is quite edible, but only about half the size of the cultivated rice which should of course replace it, if ever the right type of cultivator were settled there. ‘‘My thoughts, as I swept through these charming lakes, edged with ridges of great fertility, were that this country would support vast numbers of Asiatic
peasants.”
Mr. and Mrs, E. T. Pleasants, of Wes tern Samoa, departed by the Waipahi for a holiday in New Zealand on September 29. Mr. Pleasants is a well-known solici tor of Apia.