the holders,
as
to
the
crops,
the price of
the land and other particulars, and at
our meeting, some documents, the results
of the inquiries
on the 23rd Instant, were produced
by his
From these documents it
appears that the highest product of the
rice land is $7 per mow
per annum,
and from this sum the clear profit
is from $3 to $3.2.
The product of the best vegetable
cultivation is reckoned at $6 per
mow per annum, but the profit is not as great as from the rice cultivation, owing to the greater amount
of labour and manure required for the vegetables.
The price said by the Natives to be
paid for the very best rice land, is $40 per mow, in perpetuity; being somewhat less
than six years' purchase; and the price
of the worst land is stated to be $20 per
mow.
A mow is 94 fathoms by 47; there
are therefore 964 (or very near 9¾) mows in
an acre,
and the price of the best land
according to this statement would be
$385.60 per acre, and of the worst $192.80. The mean
being $289.20.
All these calculations are
founded upon
the assertions of the natives themselves, but
Mr Gutzlaff has made inquiries of them
at various times, as well as at
the meetings of the holders of land and they have always named the same value, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to get any other information on the subject - judging however, of these people by the generality of Chinese here, it is probable that they will
be satisfied with much less than their
present demand.
We would beg respectfully to bring
before His Excellency in Council the
advisability
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