Maxch, 1908.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 171 



often grow pineapples, mangoes, paw-paws, as well as other 

 tropical fruits, in their holdings. The banana plants which we 

 saw were rather dwarf and of sturdy growth, and it appeared to 

 me tliat but little systematic cultivation was practised ; the pine- 

 apples also were inferior in size, and grown in the most primitive 

 manner possible. I could not help drawing a comparison 

 between these plants and the splendidly-grown pineapples which 

 I once saw at Redland Bay, some 30 miles down the river from 

 Brisbane, where good cultivation was the order of the day, and 

 the profits very substantial. 



I noticed that the Chinese are planting Citrus trees on a fairly 

 large scale in the banana plantations around Cairns, and from 

 what I could gather they mtend giving up growing bananas alto- 

 gether. The Fruit-fly is in very strong evidence, most of the 

 bunches which we saw being covered with net bags, this being 

 supposed to lessen the chance of egg-laying by the flies. The 

 Chinese, and, indeed, all the growers whom I met, appeared to be 

 anxious to do their utmost to keep down the fly, and also to 

 comply with the regulations bearing upon the same. Many of 

 the Chinese appeared to be very business-like in their habits, and 

 some fine teams of horses, well fed and groomed, bear testimony 

 to their care of domestic animals. The produce grown on the 

 plantations is carted to the Redlynch station on the Cairns- 

 Herberton railway, and sent to Cairns for shipment. 



The mangoes, seen everywhere, are very prolific, and in my 

 opinion a fortune is in store for some enterprising firm who would 

 enter upon the paying industry of chutney-making, hundreds of 

 tons of these fine fruits being annually sacrificed for the want of a 

 market for them. I obtained some authentic figures regarding this 

 matter, which show that the waste is appalling, and at the same 

 time the supply of mangoes in North Queensland is practically 

 unlimited. 



I greatly regretted being unable to visit Geraldton, a port lower 

 down the coast, as from there the large bulk of the bananas which 

 come to our State are grown. Here again tlie whole business 

 may be regarded as being in the hands of the Chinese. 



The tropical vegetation is very rank about Cairns, hundreds of 

 acres being taken up by plants of guavas, lantanas, and other 

 plants which had escaped from gardens in the vicinity. The 

 Government Gardens at Kamerunga are not far away. In these 

 we spent some hours, admiring the fine collections of tropical 

 plants of value and introduced from many parts of the world. 

 Several varieties of coffee, cotton, sugar-cane, some vanilla, &c., 

 were noticed, and these, grouped together with other useful and 

 ornamental plants, made quite a feature in this interesting and 

 useful establishment. 



We were now in the home of the Crocodile, the Cassowary, the 



