Walpole Guano Not Wanted

Captain E. Savoie, In Auck

land in September taking de* livery of his ship Estrella del Mar (formerly Hauturu) said that he has contracted with the New Caledonian Government to make six trips per year to Walpole Island, with one of

his vessels. Indicating that he would like to re-open the guano trade from that island to New Zealand, Captain Savoie admitted that there was little chance of that at the present time, with Seychelles guano, richer in phosphatic content, freely available there at £ll per ton. Walpole guano would have to sell at a sub

stantially higher figure than that, i make the re-opening of the workin] worth while.

Walpole ceased exporting guar to New Zealand, its only importai market, early in 1940 (PIM, Novec her 1940, p. 63), after nearly 2 years of activity, though, after ear 1936 when a two-year contract wil a New Zealand firm ended, only o casional shipments were made, was reported in 1940 that an esl mated 100,000 tons of alluvial guar remain on the 300-acre island, at about 4,000 tons heaped ready f< shipment. Sixty to a hundred labou ers formerly worked there.

Early in 1936 when the Austr Guano Company’s lease expired, th; firm removed some of the plant.

The guano is rich and requin no processing as does the phospha rock of Nauru/Ocean/Makatea b fore it can be used for plant fertilise The island lies about 150 mil( south-east of New Caledonia and sometimes passed over by aircra on the direct Sydney-Nadi (Fiji route. Last year it was complete] deserted. It has no other industi and if the guano is not to be worke it seems strange that Captain Savoi has been engaged to make six trij a year there.