Copra as Food For Pigs

Interesting N.Z. Experiment

MR. H. M. Rushworth, Auckland pre sident of the N.Z. Farmers’ Union, visited Fiji recently and arranged for a shipment of two tons of copra to the Dominion. He paid £8 for the two tons, but the landed cost in New Zea land was £lB/7/-.

According to the “N.Z. Herald”, this copra will be distributed among N.Z. pig farmers, who will experiment with it both alone and with a combination of other foodstuffs. If it proves a success as a food, the Government may be approached for facilities to deal with the commodity on a large scale. Landing costs could be substantially reduced, and exchange eliminated by importing from Western Samoa.

Mr. Rushworth said the important thing to be ascertained first was infor mation concerning the precise food value of copra and its effect in producing bacon. He had been told by the Fiji Director of Agriculture that the protein content was very high, and might make the bacon fat and flabby unless topped off with some hardening substance, such as skim-milk.

The idea is excellent; but although copra sheds all over the Pacific are filled to capacity„ copra at £4 per ton is hardly profitable for European planters —in fact, it would barely pay the cost of production and shipment to central ports.