A—4

It will be seen that approximately four-fifths of the land area of the Territory is still held by the Samoans in accordance with their'own customs and usages. Under the Samoa Act, 1921, it is unlawful for Samoans to alienate " Native land " other than to the Crown, although provision is made whereby the Administration may approve of leases up to forty years. Recent estimates indicate that about 400,000 acres, or 53 per cent, of the total area, is waste land comprising steep mountains, lava beds, and other poor types of country. Of the Crown land, some 75,360 acres are held by the New Zealand Reparation Estates, but most of it is too poor for commercial development and only 9,836 acres are cultivated by the Estates management, while 4,681 acres are leased to private European planters. Of the European freehold land, about 35,000 acres are owned privately and 5,000 acres by the various missions. The only population pressure on land exists in Apia and a few of the larger villages, where population increases have led to a shortage of plots for growing foodstuffs for their inhabitants and to some congestion of buildings. The New Zealand Reparation Estates, as a matter of policy, is prepared to relinquish to the Ali'i and Faipule of such communities sufficient areas of Estates land in the vicinity to meet their requirements. Power for the New Zealand Government to take land for public purposes, including defence, is provided for in the Samoa Act. No land has been taken during the year under review. Forests and Mines No minerals of commercial value are known to exist. Forest resources are limited, but there are some good hardwoods. Two small sawmills are operated locally, one by the New Zealand Reparation Estates on Savai'i, and the other by a European at Apia. Agriculture, Fisheries, and Animal Husbandry Agricultural services consist of—(a) Inspection of all produce for export in order to maintain good marketable standards ; plantations are also subject to inspection for noxious weeds and for the rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes nasicornis), which destroys the coconut-trees. (b) Fourteen Samoan Plantation Inspectors, who are elected as part of the system of Samoan elective officials, and whose duty it is to inspect Samoan cultivations and encourage new plantings. Marine products are gathered by the Samoans, but commercial fishing is negligible. The live-stock industries are of local importance. Pigs and poultry are significant in Samoan economy, and horses and cattle are numerous. Horses are used mainly as pack-animals by the Samoans, and cattle are used on European plantations to keep down growth. They also provide fresh beef for local consumption and hides for export. The New Zealand 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 landholder who supplies fresh milk to the hospital and to private consumers. New blood-stock is imported, mainly from New Zealand, to improve and maintain the local strains.

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