Booming Banana Trade

A Third Ship For Booming Banana Trade

THE Union Steamship Company of NZ may build a new vessel to cope with the increased Islands banana trade.

At present, the bulk of the Islands export of bananas is handled by the passenger-freighter vessels Matua and Tofua. The new vessel, which could not be available for three years, would have no passenger accommodation and would be used on the Islands service only at the height of the season.

Meanwhile, the freighter Katui, which has been operating on the banana trade between Fiji tnd Auckland during the past Winter, will now be replaced by the larger 2,500 tons freighter Karamu.

Fiji banana plantations have now fully recovered from the hurricane of January, 1952, and 1953 is likely to be an all-time record export year.

Nonetheless, if an extra ship is provided for the banana trade there is likely to be heartburnings in the Cook Islands where lack of ship ping connections with New Zealand is crippling the fruit industry.

When the new Tofua entered the Pacific Islands service at the end of 1951, the Cook Islands expected to be serviced by the Matua. This hope was not realised and the

Group still makes do with the in adequate service provided by Maui Pomare.

The second camp meeting of the Eastern Solomon Islands Mission of Seventh Day Adventists on Guadal canal began on October 9 and was attended by over 1000 native people as well as SDA Pastors from Aus tralia and New Guinea, Four other camp meetings of a similar nature will be held in BSI this year.

UMr. John Hancock, who was in Tonga in 1944 as agricultural ad viser to the Tongan Government, has been appointed livestock con sultant to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development at Washington, DC. Mr. Hancock was born and educated in Finland and has recently been chief animal geneticist, Ruakura animal research station, Hamilton, NZ; the twin calf experiments carried out in Fiji and New Zealand and reported pre viously in PIM were under his supervision.