209

resulted in disappointment to its promoters,
the flocks being carried off by some disease
for which the owners are unable to account.
Notwithstanding the want of success hitherto
attending this pursuit, large tracts of land
have lately been bought by some sheep
farmers from New Zealand, who intend im-
porting their flocks next May.

The following return will show the increase
of a small flock of ewes, the increasing
weight of fleece, and the gross weight of the
clip during three years.

TORTOISE SHELL.

Tortoise shell is plentiful. The amount ex-
ported might be increased threefold if the
Fijians were at all industrious. The value
of this article has fallen greatly. A few
years since it was worth 20s. per lb., now it
brings in the Colonial markets 9s.

PIGS, TIMBER, FRUIT, &c.

Very little has been exported under this
head owing to the influx of settlers during
the year past. Everything the Native pro-
ducer could raise in the way of food, either
animal or vegetable, has scarcely sufficed to
meet their requirements.

For the same reason no timber has been
exported. The whole being used here for the
numerous additions and improvements to the
houses of the settlers. Some fruit has been
exported, also maize, the latter grows very
finely, and is consumed chiefly by the ser-
vants and labourers on the various plantations.

The coming year will no doubt see these
Islands advance steadily in the path of
prosperity. Large sums of money have
lately been invested by men possessing the
means to enter extensively into agricultural
pursuits. A company is in the course of
formation for the purpose of cultivating
sugar in the island of Taviuni, the soil of
which is peculiar in richness and fertility.
From the high opinion competent judges
entertain of the sugar cane now grown by the
Natives, no doubt can be entertained of the
success that will attend the undertaking.

AGRICULTURE.

Under this head it is satisfactory to report
some improvement. In cotton more care is
now taken in the selection of seed, in the
preparation of the ground, and cultivating
the plant. The best season for planting
cotton is from September to January. The
months of July and August are generally
dry, enabling the planter to uproot and burn
off the weeds upon his land, and to prepare
it for the genial rains of September and
October. In dry months the sun is likely
to strike through the soil and so injure the
roots of the young plants, thus producing
the disease known as "shore skin." This
retards the growth of the tree. If heavy
rains fall soon after planting, the seed is very
liable to rot in the ground, so in many cases,
owing to unpropitious weather, infinite
trouble must be endured before the planter
can obtain a stand of cotton. The plant
appears about four days after sowing, and
under favourable circumstances grows
rapidly.

Sea Island cotton is generally planted in
rows 6ft. by 6ft., but some planters are
drilling, as in America, the rows being 5ft.
and the plants 30in. apart. This variety
grows much faster and arrives at maturity
sooner than any other. I have observed
the first blossoms upon a tree one month
after planting: at the end of the second
month the blossoms fell and the bolls ap-
peared: at the end of the third month the bolls
reached maturity, and the cotton was ready
for gathering. The most experienced grow-
ers estimate each healthy tree will produce
annually five pounds weight of seed cotton.
There are three crops of this variety during
the year: the first in January or February,
the second in May or June, the third in
September or October. The vicissitudes of
the seasons, however, will forward or retard
the ripening of the crop by a month. In
ginning, this cotton loses two-thirds of its
gross weight; 300 lbs. of seed cotton pro-
ducing 100 lbs. of clean. Assuming that
each tree would produce three pounds of
seed cotton—one pound of clean fibre—one
shilling, and that an acre of land planted
6ft. by 6ft., carries 1,031 trees the gross
value annually per acre would be £51. 11s.

The demand for Sea Island cotton is limi-
ted, but the diminished production of this
variety in America, owing to the disorgani-
sation of labour, will probably afford the
Fijian planter an opportunity of selling all
he can produce at a remunerative figure for
some time to come.