esh Beef for New

Guinea Towns

cattle farming experiment of iderable interest and signifi :e to Papua and New Guinea t present being carried out by experienced Australian grazier be area immediately north-west >ort Moresby. lere, Mr. H. N. Webb has estab jd the Fairfax Cattle Co. Ltd. approximately 11,000 acres of ier dry country. He has a herd e of a few hundred cattle, which eing built up steadily. So far experiment is going along very i order that his grazing country r be properly balanced, however, Webb is negotiating with the r ernment and the native owners in attempt to get access to about 0 acres of swamp country, Dining. he Company made its first erimental killing in December, 3, and Port Moresby thus got its t supply of local fresh beef.

Experiments in killing, transporta tion and distribution still are going on, with good prospects of a profit able industry being established in this area of Papua.

Meanwhile, another interesting experiment has been carried out by the Territories Department of Agri culture.

As is well known, the Department has a large experimental cattle station in the Baiyer River Valley, north-west of Mt. Hagen, in the Central New Guinea Highlands. In July, ten cattle were slaughtered there, in the early morning, and the carcases were immediately dressed and carried by air directly from the Baiyer River across the mountains to Port Moresby, where they were placed in the market be fore noon, as freshly killed beef.

It was a difficult job for the De

partment officials but it did prove that an airlift of fresh meat from the Highlands to the main centres is possible and practicable without refrigeration facilities.

The Baiyer River meat was sold in Port Moresby at 3 - per lb, and it was calculated that the cost of air transportation was 7td per lb.

To combat soil erosion, which is a serious problem in Fiji, farmers planting sugarcane, maize, and other crops on hilly land will in future be required by law to plant the rows at right angles to the slope to slow the run-off of rainwater and reduce the loss of top soil.

Some cultivated areas of Fiji have already suffered considerable damage through carelessness or ignorance on the part of the farmers.