BY J. F. BAILEY. 91 



Ebony [Diospyros Eheniim), 



Sumatra, in 1870. 

 Lignum Vttae {Guiacum officinale), 



West Indies, in 1871. 



TOBACCO. 



Tobacco {Nicotiayia Tabacum). 



Many of the squatters of the early days grew tobacco 

 for the sake of the dried leaf, which they used in the 

 preparation of a sheep dip. Exhibits of prepared 

 leaf were made at the International Exhibition, London, 

 in 1862, by the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, and M. 

 Thozet, of Rockhampton. Ten varieties were under 

 trial at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in 1870, and 400 

 packets of seed were distributed in 1873, and 15 

 varieties in 1876. In 1876, the Acclimatisation 

 Society distributed seed of the varieties " Maryland," 

 " Latakia," and " Virginia." Since then, other 

 varieties have been distributed by the Botanic Gardens, 

 the Acclimatisation Society, and the Department of 

 Agriculture. The produce of dried leaf in 1908 was 

 5389 cwt. obtained from 669 acros. 



SUGAR. 



Sugar {Saccharum officinarum). 



We have records of sugar cane having been grown 

 as far back as 1828, when it was used as a fence round 

 the vegetable gardens attached to the penal settlement 

 at Brisbane. Backhouse and Walker observed it 

 being used for the same purpose in 1836. It was 

 not imtil the year 1862 that any sugar was manu- 

 factured, and then only on a very small scale by Mr. 

 Buhot, from canes obtained from the Brisbane Botanic 

 Gardens. During this year the Hon. Louis Hope, 

 of Ormiston, had the largest area under cultivation, 

 viz., 20 acres, and 2,000 cuttings were distributed 

 from the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. During the 

 seventies, a nursery was established at Oxley by the 

 Government, and 78 varieties were represented there 

 in 1879. A distribution of 42 varieties was made 

 in 1882 to 70 applicants, the weight of canes sent out 

 amounting to 40 tons. About the year 1863, the 

 Acclimatisation Society introduced some of the best 



G — RoTAL Society. 



