984 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[JriTE I, 1883. 



far larger, says our informant, than any in Fiji. He 

 describes its soil as red and sticky, very absor- 

 bent of moisture, and of great fertility. Throughout 

 its extent there is a large quantity of volcanic .scorias 

 and tufae and the soil of Loma Loma is almost iden- 

 tical. There are some clearings on it here and there, 

 but the larger portion is still in the natural scrub. 

 The caue grown there is described as of " surpassing 

 irrowth and full of saccharine richnt-ss." As it ap- 

 proaches the sea and river on either side it becomes 

 open timber land, and the soil assumes the charac- 

 ter of a rich black loam. This has been used for some 

 years aa a grazing country, but it ia now intended 

 that the greater portion of this also shall be planted 

 with sugar-cane, fur the culiivation of which it is 

 said to be etju.ally well .suited witli the scrub lauds. 

 The returns are said to be equal to three tons per 

 acre. Thiis portion also includes the point where the 

 river debouches into the Pacific, and the whole extent 

 of it has lately been purchased by a syndicate, for 

 the purpose of breaking up into suitably sized farm.s, 

 to encourage settlers, of small or large capital. This 

 has been done, and the lands were advertized to be 

 sold ffy auction last month, in sections of various 

 sizes, from 20 to 400 acres. A new town is projected 

 at the month of the river, the sections of which are 

 also oflered for sale. At the point where the pro- 

 posed town is to be built, the river is six latlioms 

 ilcep thirty yards off the bank and wide enongh to 

 allow large steamers to turn while steaming. It is there- 

 fore claimed to be a most favourable position for steamers 

 calling. From this tram lines are projecteii all through 

 the estate, and it is anticipated that a railway, con- 

 necting with Maryboiough, will shortly be carried 



out. 



At the end of 1882 there were 4.300 acres under 

 cane, out of a possibility of 50,000 acres, more or less, 

 about ,3,000 acres of which li.ad been crushed or was 

 fit for crushing. The richne.'-s of the juice had been 

 spoiled by frost, and it only showed a density of 6° 

 to 8,° thougl; one or two patchi-s are reported at 10°. 

 This danger" of frost is one to which the lands on the 

 inland side, or with n westerly aspect, and on the 

 banks 0! the river are liable, though it appears to be 

 of rare occurrence. On the sea ward side the cane was 

 in no way injured, even by the severe and uuusual 

 frost experienced last year. The labour employed has 

 been European and Polynesian, but this is the hill of 

 difficulty there as here. Indeed, our informant tells 

 us they are far worse off there than we are in Fiji, 

 and it is mainly on that account he left the district. 

 We observe in the account before us that one plauier 

 endeavoured to work his mill entirely with while 

 labour. " In this laudable attempt, however, he failed, 

 for on the first Monday morning after commencing 

 operations only oiii' man put in an appearance, the 

 others being either discontented with the ' hardness ' 

 and 'muckiness' of the labour or dissatisfied with 

 the wages they had agreed to see the season through 

 for." No wonder this planter c'eclares that, "if he 

 had to depend on European labour lo attend his sugar 

 mill, he would not grow a stick ol' can.-." The num- 

 bers of Polynesians seems very insufficient, for, though 

 they are not given in all cases, there does not seem 

 more than an average of twenty-five to each plant- 

 ation, including mills and all. These are to some 

 extent iupplemented by "free," what we call "time- 

 expired," Polynesians, 'int withal it is evident this is 

 the main drag on the advance of this district in sugar 

 cultivation. It is said "unless the labour dilficulty 

 is made easier of solution than it is at present, 

 speculative operations will cease, for none of the plant- 

 ers feel jnstified in risking capital on the very doubtful 

 chance of securing the necessary Labour to e-aMe them 

 to .ihtair any return for tlieir expendiluie." ''Even 

 at the present juncture there are insufficient labourers 



to attend to the different places, and to extend opera- 

 tions is simply out of the question." 



On the whole this seems to be a splendid sugar 

 district could it be utilized properly, and it does seems 

 veiy suicidal on the part of whites to try to exclude 

 labourers, who must certainly increase the wealth of 

 the country and the necessity for extended white 

 labour at the same time. As things stand however, 

 labour is king, and capital and splendid land must lie 

 idle until it can be moved. Private accounts state the 

 Indian labourers brought were far from being what 

 was wanted. They were not farm laborers, but bil- 

 liard markers, professed thieves, jail birds, and 

 vegibouds of every description. The planters there 

 are now turning their eyes to China, where, they are 

 informed, they can obtain an unlimited supply of real 

 farm labourers, who will cost landed, including the 

 £10 poll-tax, not more than £18 or £20 : five years' men 

 »t £22 per annum including everything. — Fiji Times. 



[Frost is a serious objection, but want of cheap 

 labour is still more serious. We see the Mackay 

 planters were about to indent on New Guinea for 

 labour, but the more fe^isible plan will be for sugar 

 planters to go where there is good soil, plenty of 

 labour (if the natives of New Guinea will work for 

 planters) and no frost. — Ed.] 



SORGHUM AS A SUGAR- YIELDER. 



The impression we have received from all we have 

 read of experiments with sorghum as a substitute for 

 sugarcane in America is that although sorghum, es- 

 pecially the amber variety, has merits of its own, 

 it is not likely to supersede sugar-cane as a source 

 of fine well-crystallized sugar. The Indian papers 

 contain a report of an experiment made in the North- 

 West Provinces, which seems to promise profitable 

 results because the richly glucose, honej'-like gnr 

 (something like our jaggery ..produce) suite the taste 

 of the people, who are large consumers of sugar. One 

 of the chief articles of food in the North-West of 

 India, indeed, is a cake made of wheat flour and 

 sugar, while sugar confections of all kinds are also 

 much used. The soi'ghum, being a gigantic millet, 

 has the additional advantages of yielding grain before 

 the canes are cut, while the leaves and stalks .are 

 greedily devoured by cattle. The hope expressed is 

 that sorghum may yield a sugar for local consump- 

 tion, so setting free that derived from the sugar- 

 cane for export. But India seems capable of ab- 

 sorbing any possible quantity of sugar that can be 

 made, the very tobacco smoked by the people being 

 largely mixed with the produce of the sweet cane, while 

 a favourite drink is sugarcane sherbet The thirsty 

 pilgrims at Benares go to a boutique, put down a 

 small coin, are supplied with a bit of sugai'cane, a 

 pair of squeezers and a cup, and they go their way 

 refreshed. It seems that the juice of the sorghum 

 is specially acid, requiring treatment with lime and 

 soda, and it is amusing and somewhat disgusting 

 that castor oil is used .to help forward the process 

 of crystallization. If there were a market in Ceylon 

 for sorghum sugar, the plant could, no doubt, be 

 cultivated wherever maize or "Indian corn" will 

 flourish. From the paper referred to we make a few 

 extracts : — 



The experiments were directed solely to procuring the 

 best possible sample of ciystalised sugar in the compost 

 form (gur) . So far as couldj,be understood iiom the re- 



