80 INTEODUCTION OF ECONOMIC PLANTS 



duction of economics. AmonEc the early ones we must 

 record the names of A. J. Hockings. S. H. Eaves, E. Way, 

 — Magill, Alfred Williams, of Brisbane, and C. H. Hart- 

 mann, of Toowoomba. Mr. A. T. Hockings informed 

 me that in one of his father's letter- books is a copy of a 

 letter dated 31st January. 1857. addressed to the Curator 

 Botanic Gardens, Calcutra, in which he ordered the 

 following plants : — Sweet Sop, Sour Sop, Mangosteen, 

 Mango, Litchi, Longan, Wampee, Jack Fruit, Avocado 

 Pear, Durian. and Boehmeria nivea. 



On several occasions attempts have been made to 

 introduce economic plants on the islands within the Barrier 

 Reef. In the early seventies, Captain Bedwell, of H.M. 

 Surveying Schooner " Pearl," on behalf of the Brisbane 

 Botanic Gardens and the Acclimatisation Society, planted 

 Jack Fruit and Pandanus utilis. In the early nineties, 

 cocoanuts, mangoes, peaches, and other fruit trees were 

 planted at the instance of the Department of Agriculture. 



It is to be regretted that very few, comparatively 

 speaking, of the many good things introduced in the early 

 days, could be traced in any gardens in the State twenty 

 years since, although thousands were distributed. How- 

 ever, on the formation of the Department of Agriculture, 

 in 1888, the work of re-introducins: many of the most 

 desirable kinds was taken up, with the result that the State 

 farms and nurseries at the present are stocked with a fine 

 collection of economic plants of every description. 



The statistics quoted herein are taken from the 

 Annual Reports of the Queensland Government vStatistician 

 (Thornhill Weedon, F.S.S.). I also found A. Meston's 

 Geographical History of Queensland useful in obtaining 

 information concerning crops cultivated in the early days. 



The following must not be taken as a complete list 

 of the economic plants which have been introduced, but 

 only those which have been given a trial in cultivation, 

 for it must be borne in mind that very many of the kinds 

 introduced did not progress further than the pot stage. 



RUBBER. 

 India Rubber {Ficus elastica). 



Growing in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in 1867. 

 India Rubber Vine {Cryptostegia grandiflora). 



Introduced during the early seventies by Brisbane 



Botanic Gardens and Acclimatisation Society. 



