Page 4 Advertisements Column 5

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1987, 24 January 1907, Page 4

FIJI FOR THE SETTLER. Thu Government of Fiji is making a strong bid for the settlor, ami, as n beginning, invites applications for the lease of an area of 70,000 acres in the south-west corner of Vaima T.ovu. The Hon. S. L. Lazarus, planters’ 'member of the Fiji Legislative Council, was interviewed upon the prospects for settlers in the territory in question. .At the outset Mr Lazarus expressed himself as most sangui.no of the ultimate good results of the Fiji Governments decision to facilitate settlement in the group. “Owing to the system of native land tenure in Fiji,” ho said, “it has boon very difficult for settlers to obtain land, but the arrangement just made by the Government will very materially facilitate this. The 70,000 acres already referred to is nativo land ; but it is acquired by the Government and sublet to settlers. The difficulty hitherto lias been that those wishing to take up land never really know who wore the native principals from whom they leased or purchased land. Part of the nroa is in the wet zone, and the larger portion in the dry zone. Thore is. a groat variation in the rainfall of the two zones. In the first. loOin is the average annual fall, while in the second the rainfall averages SOin per annum. As for the character of the land, well, it is generally undulating, with hills rising to 1500 ft; but in order to ensure the rainfall the' hush on the hills above 1000 ft in height will be preserved. NATHUAL RESOURCES. “With regard to wliat fcry will raise, 1 would say that cattle do splendidly and sheep have been tried with considerable success on tin l dry portion of tile island. Good prices are obtained in the group for live stock for fresh meat, which is necessarily preferred to tinned meat. One settler, Mr Darcy, from New Zealand has leased a block of some 5000 acres and is now increasing his stock. This land was obtained from the natives, at about Id per aero, for a long term, 1 believe for 50 years. Another block of land of from 8000 to 10,000 acres has recently been obtained from Die natives at Nadroga for sheep farming, also for a long period, at under Id per acre. With regard to tropical agriculture the best paving branch is copra raising. Coooanuts will do well all round the coast in the Bua district. The high and increasing price of copra makes oocoanut planting now one of the best possible investments. It costs about £2 per ton to make, and now realises £l7 per" ton locally. Rubber is being planted, and doubtless will be so on a large scale ere long. A gentleman from New Zealand quite recently took up a block on a 09 yours’ lease, of 5000 acres, with the option of purchase at a reasonable price, and 5000 acres for cocoa. Rubber will, at no distant date, form a valuable adjunct to the list of exports from the colony. The indigenous rubber has boon reported upon as equal to the best in the market; but the most remunerative to grow are the Para and Ceara species. The magnilicent samples of island cotton sent to film Exhibition at Christchurch show conclusively what can bo clone in that respect. Our cotton in tlie past won prizes against allcomers.”

Mr Lazarus also referred to the great advantages 1-ii i offered to the tea and coffee planter, and mentioned that, besides the Colonial Sugar Refining Company—wlio own mills all over the two large islands —there was another company now growing cane, viz., the Eiji-Yanoouver Company, a British Columbian undertaking.' “Sugar,’' he added, “would do well upon the dry lands in the extromo west of Vnnua Levu, where tiie lands recently opened by the Government for settlement are situated. TROPICAL AGRICULTURE.

Mr Lazarus was asked if there were ttiiv facilities for learning tropical agriculture in Fiji, and replied, “Any young man who thought about taking up land there would have the advantage of advice from the weliestabiished Agricultural Department of the Government. This is in charge of Mr C. H. Knowles, a gentleman of exceptional experience of tropical agriculture, and who was for some years stationed in the West Indies. Two experimental stations have been started, one in the dry zone, and the other in the wet zone. The suitability of soils and climate for all economic vegetable products are carefully ascertained and recorded, and no trouble is too great for the officials of the Department to take i n assisting the individual planter. The colony can grow anything that any other tropical country can, with tile advantage of having markets at its very doors. Minerals have recently been discovered, in the shape of copper deposits, which are being explored at present in two different parts of the colony.” When asked about labor, Mr Lazarus said plenty of suitable labor was available. The native himself is not a worker ; but the Indian coolies are available in any number required. The Government, in its anxiety to foster and extend the planting industry, lias now made it possible for planters to deposit the passage money of coolies and Polynesians by instalments at o per cent, interest, instead of in a lump sum as before. Indian male adults were paid Is and females 9d per day, or by task. LAND TENURE.

The system of tenure of the native land at liua which has been thrown open for lease was referred to, and Mr Lazarus said: “In the first place the Government now undertakes to survey the sections required, and tho cost of survey is paid back to the Government in instalments, spread over a number of years, if required ; whereas formerly this cost a great deal of money, had to bo paid at onco, and the fees under the private system being heavy this ho doubt proved a barrier to settlers with limited means, The lease of the lands is fixed at 99 years, and there are no unreasonable restrictions. The rent is payable in halfyearly instalments, In short,” continued, Mr Lazarus, “the Government of Fiji is most anxious to securo bonafide settlers, who will use the lands to the best advantage, to themselves directly and to the colony indirectly. AVc have a total area of 50,000,000 acres, of which only 75,000-acres are in cultivation, I should mention that while the Government, as guardian of the natives’ interests, prefers settlers taking up land on leasehold, yet capitalists, who usually wish to acquire the freehold, could be met, As a matter of fact there arc areas of from 5000 to 20,000 acres that could, I believe, he acquired on freehold, conditionally upon the utilisation of tho land within a reasonable lime, and even, small sections from an acre upwards could also be similarly secured. Referring to commerce, Mr Lazarus said that Fiji was of the utmost importance to New Zealand generally, and to Auckland in particular, and as time went on the commercial relations between that colony and this must largely increase. “Wo have,” he said, “a total population of 122,000, of whom nearly 3000 are whites. The natives, from a variety of inexplicable causes, are declining in numbers, and large tracts of native land are lying unoccupied. Tho Government is prepared to facilitate in every possible way the acquisition of this land by genuine settlers. THE CLIMATE

Mr Lazarus maintained that the climate of Fiji excelled that of the South of France, as it was more equable, which was proved by its low mortality, there being but one place in the world where it is lower. Fiji was entirely free from malaria of any kind. Its rainfall was heavy, and its temperature varied from about 70deg. to SOdeg. In the mountains, of course, it was much lower. The taxes were light, living was not necessarily expensive, and labor was cheap. The revenue was increasing yearly, and was always much in excess of the expenditure. There was satisfactory communication with England, Australia, and New Zealand.—N.Z. Herald.

Sykes's Drench—Always Reliable. Farmers want a reliable drench—one that will not fail when trouble arises. No drench has had such unqualified success as Sykes’s. Over a thousand farmers have written expressing their gratitude for the remarkable cures which it has effected. One of these is Mr. James Tomath, the well-known dairyman of Shannon, Manawatu. He writes: “I am in the habit of drenching my cows with Sykes’s Drench immediately after calving, and at all times on the appearance of inflammation of any kind. I have seldom known it to fail, and have always recommended'it..” A MODERN DIGESTIVE. One of Dr. Sheldon’s Digestive Tabules will digest 1500 grains of nieats, eggs, and other tvliolesomo food. They are a genuine tonic, because they bring about in the only natural way a restoration of nerve power, a building up of lost tissuo and appetite by the digestion and assimilation of -wholesome food. Thoy can’t help but do you good. For sale by A. W. J. Mann, Agent, Chemist.