January r, 1&85.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



563 



ation is at fault Buth Europeans and Chinese have worked 

 for me, and many others, tor the past two years, and I 

 have carefully compared their performance. At some kinds 

 of work the Chinamen will do as much as the European 

 — that is, even work, or any light labour at which the 

 perseverance of a weak man counts as much as the frequent 

 * spurts' aud frequent 'spells' of a strong man." Elsewhere, 

 Mr. Meston states — "There are two formidable obstacles 

 in the north to the employment of white men, and these 

 are the refusal to work except at wages on sane planters 

 can offer, and the disinclination to do any agricultural 

 work whilst there is anything else available." 



It may interest my readers to learn that years ago, 

 when Queensland was comparatively an unknown land, 

 the late Dr. Lang, after a visit, wrote:— " I hardly believe 

 it possible that sugar, rice, or the inferior kinds of cotton 

 can be successfully cultivated wholly by European hands. I 

 do not think that the continuous field labour under a tropi- 

 cal sun would be found compatible with the Anglo-Saxon 

 constitution, and I cannot resist the conviction that if 

 these articles are to be raised in quantities to have any 

 commercial importance, it must be by aid of Asiatic labour, 

 as in the Mauritius." 



It is not the man in the south who farms a few acres of 

 sugar-land that feels the effect of a check in the supply 

 of labour. He possibly utilises the cheapest of all labour — 

 the hands of his children, aud such men cultivate only in 

 the south, near the centres of population. In the north the 

 small farmer has his labour — either kanaka, wandering black 

 or Chinaman — but seldom indeed a white man in the field. 

 The opponents of the planters in the north say the creation 

 of large sugar estates and the encouraging of capitalists 

 to settle on the land is a mistake, and that it would be 

 far better to have the land in the hands of small growers, 

 and that the mill would soon come where there was sugar to 

 crush. A few minutes' reflection will show how impractic- 

 able such a scheme would be. In Northern Queensland 

 the sugar plantations are large estates, excepting only those 

 small farms which have become, as it were, parasites of 

 the larger areas, being dependent upon them for a market 

 and a livelihood. To clear these lands and erect mills 

 upon them very large sums of money have been expended, 

 and other large sums have been spent in opening up means 

 of communication with the far distant markets for the 

 product. In order to produce the first ton of sugar and 

 get it to market, an expenditure of thousands of pounds 

 has been necessary. How would it be possible for men 

 without capital, the immigrant or small farmer say with 

 his few hundred pounds to carry out such a work. To clear 

 a sufficient area of land, in order to grow enough produce 

 to keep body and soul together, would take the whole 

 of his little stock, and then he would find himself in the 

 midst of a forest uncared for and unthought of. No 

 benevolent capitalist would erect a mill for him to crush 

 his sugar unless there were a sufficient quantity to pay 

 for crushing, aud to do that, when the expensive nature 

 of the machinery is considered, there would require to be 

 thousands of tons turned out. Co-operation, combination, 

 and so on is a thing we never find in such matters. No 

 one is more jealous of his fellow than the man of little 

 means. The capitalist attracts trade and population by 

 making it worth while to go to him; but the efforts of 

 the little men are not sufficient to pay others to do business 

 with them alone. When the large mill and the large plant- 

 ation have opened up the land, the small men having a 

 market to their hand, can settle round about and benefit 

 by that expenditure of capital which has been the means 

 of making communication with the outside world. Lands 

 that would still have been cattle runs have been made 

 fields of cane, and new centres of white population have 

 been established; shipping has been extended, manufacture 

 encouraged, and benefit given to all classes of the community 

 by the investment of capital in the sugar lauds of Northern 

 Queensland, and yet the very people who have been benefited 

 turn round and would refuse any share in the wealth of 

 the colony to the men whose money has been the means 

 of creating new avenues for labour and establishing pros- 

 perous communities, where a few years ago were but forest 

 and scrub. 



The question of the substitution* of cooly for the present 

 labour has been so fully entered upon in these articles, 

 that nothing further need be said regarding it. The whole 



question is fraught with difficulties through the many 

 interests involved in it, and in the mauy subsidiary, though 

 not unimportant, considerations to be kept in view, and 

 he who finds a solution of the matter which will give 

 general satisfaction, neither wronging the capitalist on the 

 one hand, nor on the other injuring the labourer and depriv- 

 ing him of his rights, will deserve the highest thanks, 

 and, I believe, will win the hearty gratitude of his fellow 

 colonists. 



The views on a subject such as this of one whose knowledge 

 of the question can at best be but cursory, and the result 

 of hastily-gleaned information may not be of the gravest 

 weight, but I think that the following words, written by 

 the late Anthony Trollope on the labour trade, are not 

 unworthy of consideration. He says: — "An ill-conditioned 

 enthusiasm may not only debar Queensland from the labour 

 which she requires, but debar also these poor savages from ■ 

 their best and nearest civilisation." — Sydney Mail, 



PLANTING IN SOUTH COORG. 



For a good many miles after leaving Mysore the country 

 is bare and very little cultivated. Then the road towards 

 Coorg, which is bordered on both sides by trees, some 

 old, and others newly planted, and all carefully looked 

 after, leads through a jungle. This is composed of a great 

 variety of shrubs and dwarf trees, many of them covered 

 with creepers, and here and there, grassy spaces are in- 

 terspersed. At Hunsur there was formerly a considerable 

 European establishment in connection with the Remount 

 Depot of the Madras Government. Of late 'years this 

 has gradually dwindled down, and the depot is now in 

 charge of a Sergeant. There are extensive works for the 

 preparation of coffee, and the neighbouring juugle affords 

 good tiger and other shooting, and for this reason the 

 place is frequently visited by sportsmen. There is a trim 

 "Wesley an Chapel, in which services are occasionally held 

 by Missionaries of that enterprising denomination, and 

 by visiting Chaplains. The soil in the Hunsur district is 

 very poor, and the condition of the ryots is far from 

 flourishing. Just below Hunsur, the road crosses a large* 

 river on a substantial stone bridge. The green grassy 

 banks, and tall trees, and overhanging foliage are sug- 

 gestive of home scenery. . As usual the road is bordered 

 by trees, and not far from Hunsur becomes one of the 

 finest avenues to be seen anywhere in Southern India. 

 The trees are large and well-grown, and the branches 

 interlace overhead. This continues for several miles. Then 

 the road leads into the heart of the jungle, which abounds 

 with great clumps of feathery bamboos, hence the name 

 familiarly given to South Coorg. There is abundance off 

 good wood, which would become very valuable if the rail- 

 way were brought nearer to it. Frequent streams pass 

 merrily under the bridges, and soon became lost to view- 

 in the jungle at the other side. The road is in very good con- 

 dition, in preparation for the marches of the 67th and 7th*. 

 Regiments from Cannanore to Bellary, and vice versa.. 

 Coffee plants now shew themselves among the trees close; 

 to the sides of the road. In about six hours we haC* 

 travelled twenty-three miles, and meeting a friend we 

 started with him on a trap for his bungalow, perched 

 on one of the loftiest heights in " the bamboo." The 

 road, or rather path, led through coffee the whole way, 

 for some five or six miles. Sometimes it went up hill, 

 sometimes down, then along '." the face of the brae " or 

 by the side of water courses, where grew magnificent clumps 

 of bamboo, mingled with giants of the forest. The pro- 

 spect from the bungalow was very engaging. All around 

 were ranges of hills — from 2,S00 to 3,200 ft. high — planted 

 to the top with coffee, but with a sufficient number of 

 natural trees left, — for shade to the coffee, — to give them 

 the appearance of being well wooded. On the most 

 elevated peaks the white bungalows of the planters 

 gleamed through the trees. To the south lay a vast plain, 

 for the most part covered with primaeval jvugle. Bound- 

 ing this plain, and running in an easterly direction, the 

 Nilgiris stood out distinct. To the north and west were 

 the richly-wooded hills around Mercara and the Brahm- 

 agery range, part of the "Western Ghauts rising into 

 great mountains. 



The part of South Coorg devoted to coffee, covers, 

 roughly speaking, twelve miles square. The estates are 



