FRUITS OF QUEENSLAND. 23 



will Dot rot out. Such land, when at all heavily timbered, is much harder to 

 clear and get ready for fruit-growing than true scrub, as all timber must be 

 felled and burnt off, and all stumps and roots taken out, so that the land can 

 be thc-roughly broken up and brought into a good state of tilth prior to plant- 

 ing. These soils are suitable to the growth of similar fruits to the true scrubs, 

 but, as a rule, they are not as rich. The second class of soils suitable to fruit- 

 growing are of alluvial origin, and are of a sandy, loamy nature, of fair depth. 

 They are usually met with along our creeks and rivers, or in the deltas of our 

 rivers. In their virgin state they are either covered with scrub or forest, or a 

 mixture of both, but the growth is seldom as strong as on the red volcanic soils. 

 Heavy alluvial soils are not suitable for fruit culture, and are much more 

 valuable for the growth of farm crops, but the light sandy loams and free 

 loams of medium character suit all kinds of fruit to perfection. These soils 

 usually are easy to work. They retain moisture well when well worked, and 

 frequently they are capable of being irrigated, either from adjacent creeks or 

 rivers, or by water from wells. These soils are some of our best for citrus 

 fruits, and are well adapted for the growth of pineapples and bananas, as well 

 as most other tropical fruits, when free from frosts. The third class of soils are 

 free sandy loams, either scrub or forest. They are of various colours, and 

 range in texture from light sandy loams to medium loams; they possess excel- 

 lent drainage, and though, when covered with forest, they are not naturally 

 rich, they make excellent fruit soils, and respond rapidly to systematic culti- 

 vation and manuring. They are usually of sandstone or granitic origin, and, 

 when covered with scrub in the first place, grow good crops for the first few 

 years, when they become more or less exhausted in one or more available plant 

 foods, and require manuring. These soils, like the sandy alluvial loams, are 

 easy to work, retain moisture well when kept in a state of perfect tilth, and 

 respond readily to manuring. They will grow all kinds of fruits when free 

 from frost. There are other soils on which fruit can be grown, but those 

 mentioned represent those most suitable. The land on which these soils occur 

 is often much broken, particularly in rich scrub country ; it is fairly level when 

 of alluvial origin, and more or less rolling, as a rule, when of a sandy loamy 

 nature. High, ridgy, free, loamy country is usually the most free from frost, 

 and alluvial flats the most liable to it. 



2nd. Soils of the Coastal Tablelands, suitable for the Growth of 

 Deciduous Fruit. 



Starting from the Southern part of the State, adjoining the New South 

 Wales border, the fruit soils are all of granitic origin. The country is much 

 broken, but between the ridges and along the creek flats there is a considerable 

 area possessing soils varying from a coarse, granitic, gritty soil to a fine granitic 

 soil; that on the creeks of an alluvial nature, but still granitic. These soils 

 vary considerably in quality, but are, as a rule, easy to work and retain 

 moisture well. They are covered with open forest and are particularly adapted 

 to the growth of apples, plums, peaches, and grapes, though other deciduous 

 fruits are grown but not to the same excellence as those mentioned. Proceed- 

 ing north the fruit soils are either sandy loams or loams of a brownish colour 



