Cocoa Possibilities

In S. Pacific

Expert Seeks Alternatives To Copra

A N authority on the cocoa industry, ft- Mr. D. H. Urquhart, of Cad )ury Brothers, has completed a lurvey for the South Pacific Com nission of the prospects for the stablishment or expansion of cocoa, offee and tea growing in the South *acific. He is now preparing a re tort.

Mr. Urquhart several years ago, tudied at first-hand the possibilities or the growing of cocoa in Papua, Jew Guinea and the Solomons. In is latest tour he visited New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Samoa, 'ook Islands, Fiji and Netherlands lew Guinea.

Mr. Urquhart said that while coco uts must still remain the pre ominant crop in the South Pacific, le need for alternative cash crops as obvious. Most of the coconut [antations were developed in the tter half of the last and the early irt of the present century. As anting since 1914 had been small, e bulk of the palms were over 50 :ars old. A considerable decline in itput was inevitable.

Cocoa held a good deal of promise territories where soil and climate ire suitable, such as Western moa, Australian New Guinea, New sbrides, Fiji and Solomons.

A survey of Samoan plantations

)uld reveal high-yielding trees,

estern Samoa’s yield per acre of coa was about four times as great that of Trinidad, which was also ted for trees of outstanding merit, irthermore, the NZ Reparation tates had noted on their 1,565-acre :oa plantation near Apia, a tree ich showed remarkable resistance to ytophthora. As this disease caused asiderable reduction of the crop Samoa and was responsible for erious decrease in the yield where ;r cocoa was grown in the world, importance of the discovery of tree which was resistant to ytophthora could not be over mated. rests were being made to see ether this tree (named Lafi 7 by NZ Reparation Estates) was •able of transmitting its disease isting quality through its seed. It 5 almost certain, however, that ; quality could be retained in

terial vegetatively-propagated from

i 7. n Mr. Urquhart’s opinion Samoa,

with its high-yielding cocoa material and the prospect of combining this quality with Phytophthora-reslstani trees, offered better prospects for in creasing cocoa output than any other cocoa-growing country to-day.

Mr. Urquhart said that coffee growing had been well established in New Caledonia, and that there were good possibilities of growing coffee in many other South Pacific islands where labour was available or native enterprise could be stimulated.

He considered that tea could be grown successfully in the highlands of Australian New Guinea and in parts of Fiji, and in other areas

where soil conditions permitted. The prospects of tea-growing, however, were limited by lack of labour, es pecially the skilled labour necessary for its production, and in other cases by the inaccessibility of areas of suitable soil and climate.

The Methodist Mission Board has urchased for the Papua District a

new boat, the “Koonwarra” at a cost of £10,120.

Two brothers, priests from Pacific missions met in New Zealand in August. They were the Rev. Father Peter Wall, MSC, from Keppel’s Island, or Niuatobutabu, northern outlier of the Tongan Islands, and the Rev. Father James Wall, a sea faring missionary, skipper of the BSI Marist Mission vessel Hambia.

New Hotel for Suva

Architect's drawing of the proposed South Seas Hotel, to be ereted on the site [?] the old Club Hotel (demolished by Janury hurricane) at the corner of victoria [?]arade 50 guests on the 4th and 5th floors. The second floor will be taken up with [?]unges and dining room. public bar and six shops will occupy the ground floor.