Prosperity Returns To
p. 76 · Read in the full issue
Samoa
From Our Own Correspondent.
Apia, Nov. 25.
TIRADE is booming in Samoa at present. -*• Copra prices are the highest recorded for several years. Copra is coming in freely and the natives are busy cutting to take advantage of the increased price for their Christmas buying.
Planters are picking their cocoa crop which, according to all reports, is a splen did one and, with the price keeping good, the outlook for the cocoa-planters is de cidedly much improved.
Bananas also share in the improvement.
Owing to the very good quality of our fruit, the demand in New Zealand is in creasing and Samoan bananas are being given preference. For the Matua, leaving for Auckland to-day, a wireless order was received to increase the shipment from 7,000 to 8,000 cases, and also to ship small quantities of pineapples, mummy-apples, mangoes and avocado pears for the Auck land market.
Cocoa planters find it very hard to ob tain Samoan plantation labour to pick the crop. With better prices prevailing for copra, cocoa and bananas, natives are more averse than ever to doing permanent or even casual work on European plan tations.