AN ISLAND TRADER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 405, 14 January 1909, Page 5

AN ISLAND TRADER.

THE DORMANT. WEALTH OF THE COOK ISLANDS. DOMINION'S NEGLECTED 1 TREASURE. It- is' over twenty years Mr. ; Carl Kohn was a resident of - Wellington, . but for, sixteen years ho has' been living out of the track of civilisation at Rarotonga, - and Wellington' and- its- people are :so. muoli changed that he; confesses himself a little nonplussed. In the' old -days was oonnceted with a jewellery establishment on Lambton Quay, which belonged ,liis brother. Hei-was aotivq in volunteering; - having started: his 'amatour military career ,iu : the -Guards, when the lato Mr. Andrew-Young was. captain,: and the late Mr. Henry Blundell was lieuten'antj ' arid finally Mr. Kohn was -appointed captain'of the Kaiwarra Rifles; in which' corps' Gaptain Davis (of the. Kelburne Rifles), was a'lieutenant. . But'those days. are. very far- behind us, |- and: Mr.': Kohn (is the apostle of an awakening people, who havei been stirred from their nativer'lethargsJ.'byii.tlie establishment iof a long-desired'ji'c'onnection ; ; with *•■<■, Wellington difecti- Seeing l 'that' we" are, now in direct iidnthit we, know, .little or, nothing about -that • island. State,, information.was sought:from;''Mr.. Kohn,-not by-'ariy 'means in '-vain. - He says' that '-'-no'. onein /New Zealand—riot even the Govornment-ris aware -of the treasure that lies beyond.itis gateS\in the possession .'of . the. Cook Group. ■'"It-.iaitrue that the''Government' was farseeinp; enough to gain that,;possession, but-tbat-it to appreciate what possibilities' for ;trade':'there, arein; the .Islands is. evidenced : ':by ; ;':t)ib';manner in 'which, the group is ,being: neglected;' but. it is prospering in the. face 1 of .that apathy. . Produce Export—Manufactures Wanted. "The .introduotion 'of civilised laws and a satisfactory; systeni ■ of; land; tenure has,"; said Mr. Kohn *--"already induced a considerablo leasing of land'.(9D years' lease only is. obtainable)' by ; Europeans, and a large amount .of: produce for:export may •in a; saort ; time be confidently expected.; 'The produce' we export at .present consist's of coom, coffee, candlcnuts, pearl 'shell,' lime juice, beche-de-mer, fungies, and, bananas, which islands to Rarat-onga .for! transhipment by the Union Company's. sfceaniera to Auckland, and now, of course, also tb-Wellington. , : "But there is a great opportunity there for more .than" itheV mere': growing of " fruit and oocoanuts.'i The "time is-ripe, I -think,- for., a' move 'ahead i.a : .'the' direction of establishing manufactories. Waterworks havo .been established, of late, at - Rarotonga, and the supply- could very', easily: be utilised for the driving of, a small electrical plant and 'necessary machinery, for the treatment of copraextracting; the oil 'on the spot instead ofsondirig away tbe popra in bulk. We could then export the oil in'casks and make oilcake .for cattle feed- out of the. refuse. There , plenty of demand for it. . ■ | , ; ■■ V;-'' Coffee, is at present roughly dried by the growers. ",/A 'Bmall plant-,, if established on pp-to-date liri(3si . would enable us to send away .;thev prepared article ready for . use. .Lime juice could be concentrated, and then we could save, the oil, ywhicli is now lost." 1 ,'. ". Anothor - prospect of . trade could be opened.-up. by '-the utilisation; of, the large quantities of cocoanut husks, which could ho turned into for export'in the shape of : ; fibre'! %••coir-rope-makujg,.'. mats,,j etc';.*- J ... "- ' ■ '. ' "ManiocajV-frpm which arrowroot is obtained, grows 1 , to perfection in the Islands, and coyld' bo treated as: easily as we. could dessicate :our-'epebanuts..' Pearl shell is another commodity .for which there is a, steady demand. ;v : Copra Wealth.' - : "Of course,' our staple product is copra,the : dried' kernels.'of the .'cocoanut, from which a valuable oil (used largely, in soapmaking); is produced..' There is a demand for' all that' we could producei and so far the soil of thp Islands has pnly "been".scratched s here and ,there,: *-According' to" a', : report the Agricultural Department, the following land was .available for planting in 1903 Rarotonga;,' 30 square miles; Mangaia, .30, square "miles; Mauki, square, miles; Mitiare, 4 square 'miles; Atiue, 32 square miles; Aitutaki, 7 squaro.miles ; and Niue, 90 square miles.' The sbmo report says that not onetenth of. 'that land is under cultivation. Why, if the cultivation .of the cocoanut tree could be brought about iri Rarotonga alone over its 30 squarb. niilos, 345 tons, of copra could be produced per square mile, which at £10 per ton (a. low return) would £3450 'per mile, -or £69,000 for' tho whole of the land capable ;bf; ; cultivation. Tho other islands, of the'group, . which are similarly fertilo, could also be mado equally lucrative. Cocoanut Cultivation. ' ;,".Th'e cocoanut, : which is planted / 25ft. apart, takes nine years before it comes into full bearing, but it has a fruitful life of 60 or 70 yearsr : 'Aged • natives havo told mo; that the,trees, at their door'were: bearing nuts when tli'cy, were youngsters, but they havo no records of .their flora that would bo of',any use'in. determining tho uverage age of 'a- healthy, cocoanut tree. 'As. they take so long to grow,-it is usual to plant-banana trees in between them,'' as the latter commences to'bear when a year old, and at onco gives some sort: of return .to keep the pot boiling. ...: "■ . . " We hope for great: things from the now ■ service; and Ivam sure the people of , Wellington, Christeliurc!i, aud Dunedin will appreciate the fresher fruit that will bo obtainable through diroct ennuectiou with 'Rurotonga,!'