" Second Kenya"

What Australian Minister Found in Central New Guinea

WHEN the Australian Minister for Territories (Mr. McDonald) arrived by plane recently at the NG De partment of Agriculture’s experimental station on the Upper Ramu, in the interior of the mainland of New Guinea, he got one of the surprises of his New Guinea tour. He ate strawberries and cold-country vegetables in the residence of the agricultural official, Mr. R. S.

Brechin, and his wife; and he admired a bonny array of sweet peas and Shirley poppies.

Up there, on that sunny, cool and fer tile plateau, the Minister found not only all kinds of cold-country fruits and vege tables, but also an impressive plantation of cinchona trees (from which a consid erable amount of quinine bark has already been taken), tea trees, and coffee.

He saw cinchona bark and coffee already packed for shipment. He also saw some excellent Romney Marsh wool from sheep which apparently are doing well on those uplands. He saw pigs and goats flourishing, and he was shown some beautiful specimens of timber.

The possibilities of tea-growing, up there, seemed particularly to impress Mr. J. R. Halligan, who accompanied the Minister.

It is several years since Mr. Murray, the Director of Agriculture, established this experimental station on the Upper Ramu to show the possibilities of Cen tral New Guinea (“a second Kenya”); and this official party dropped in on Mr.

Brechin in August, without notice, so that the impressive things which Mr.

Brechin showed the official party were unrehearsed.

It is to be hoped that Canberra now will begin to recognise the enormous value of the central plateaux of New Guinea. The plan to establish the new capital of New Guinea at Lae, near the mouth of the Markham, which is the natural outlet for the Upper Ramu and Purari tablelands, may hasten on some long overdue developmental activities.