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THE FARMERS HANDBOOK. 



The North Coast of New South Wales affords all these conditions, frost 

 being the chief controlling agent and responsible for much of the contrac- 

 tion in area that took place in years gone by. The beautiful broad sheets 

 of water of the Clarence, Richmond and Tweed rivers, as they approach 

 the sea, combine with their many creeks and channels to modify the tem- 

 peratures and thus prevent frost, and at the same time to afford cheap 

 freight for a bulky crop that otherwise might be costly to handle. 



Sugar Cane at Chatsworth Island, Clarence River. 

 A heavy crop of Badila. 



Costs of Clearing, Planting, and Harvesting.* 



Before proceeding to deal more fully with the methods of cultivating 

 sugar cane, it would be useful perhaps to give some idea of the cost of 

 clearing land in those districts where new areas are being brought under 

 the crop. 



As to the tea-tree forest that stretches from Pimlico to Ballina on the 

 Richmond, some idea is afforded by the experience at Wollongbar Experiment 

 Farm, where partly cleared country that still carried some green timber 

 cost £14 per acre to clear for the plough. On the heavier tea-tree timber 

 further up the river, clearing would not be done for less than £20 per acre. 



* The prices quoted were compiled in 1921, and are subject to variation. 



