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Food Council. Before the war prices for cocoa fluctuated around £6O a ton, though in 1934 they fell below £29 ; currently, because of world shortages, it has soared to nearly £2OO a ton. 14. The export of fresh bananas to New Zealand, as well as other adjacent islands, was developed under a New Zealand Government scheme which began in 1928. They are handled directly by the Administration and the Reparation Estates, instead of through the trading firms as in the cass of copra and cocoa. Shipments are sold to the Internal Marketing Department in New Zealand at a fixed f.o.b. price, currently 13s. 7d. a case, of which the grower gets 6s. 6d. the case, costs 4s. 6d., a tax totals 6d., and the balance covers handling costs. The banana trade fell off during the war, but is now recovering, and a fast vessel with refrigeration facilities is now carrying the fruit to New Zealand. Before the war European planters contributed a considerable share of bananas for export —e.g., 41 per cent, in 1937. During some of the war years Samoans almost monopolized the trade, but European participation is increasing once more (it was 12 per cent, in 1946). Bananas are an ideal quick crop for the small planter, and future growth of the trade is limited only by the available ability of markets in New Zealand and by problems of transport. 15. The rubber plantations date from German days, and are entirely under the management of the Reparation Estates. Production has been sporadic, and in some years non-existent. But world shortages have stimulated production from the beginning of the war period, and the present output of about 70 to 80 tons all goes to New Zealand. The desiccated coconut and dried-banana industries have been developed wholly by the Reparation Estates, the first in 1942 and the second in 1946, and the factories give employment to about 350 Samoans. Their output is sold in New Zealand. 16. The live-stock industries are of local significance. Pigs and poultry are important in the traditional Samoan economy, and horses and cattle are now numerous. Cattle are used by plantation owners to keep down growth. They also provide fresh beef for local consumption and hides for export. The Reparation Estates alone have some 9,000 head of cattle, of which about 1,200 are killed annually for meat. A dairy is run near Apia by a European land-holder, and supplies fresh milk to the hospital and to private consumers. 17. Marine products are gathered by the Samoans, but commercial fishing is so far negligible, and, indeed, is of dubious potential importance except for local markets. Forestry resources are limited, but there are some good hardwoods. Two sawmills are now being operated locally, one by the Reparation Estates on Savai'i, and the other by a European holder at Apia. No minerals of commercial value exist. Samoans around Apia sell some handicraft work, but no overseas outlets have been organized. B. Government Organization 18. In the early days of the New Zealand Administration a Department of Agriculture existed but this ceased to function in the retrenchment period of the depression. Instead, there is currently a Produce Inspector under the Department of Treasury, Customs, &c. The Produce Inspector handles the banana trade in co-operation with the New Zealand Reparation Estates. He also provides for the inspection of all other

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