TTI E AGRICULT 



to be grown, not on exporimeutal plots in 

 the Botanic (iardems or iu artifically pre- 

 pared soil, but on seven different estates 

 distributed over the ishuid, " grown by the 

 phmters themselves under exactly the 

 same conditions as other canes. There 

 was nothing exce])tionaI in their treatment. 

 Hence the results may be regarded as 

 fairly typical ot the locality in which they 

 were grown. Fifteen selected varieties of 

 sugar cane were compared on five black 

 soil estates, and ten varieties on two red 

 soil estates. Each variety was alloted a 

 plot of 100 holes, and at nearly every 

 station there were two series of the varie- 

 ties, so that there were two plots (dapli- 

 cates) of each variety, serving to show 

 at each station, on the field chosen, the 

 variation to be expected with each variety 

 from one part of the field to another. 

 Finally the crops when reaped had to 

 undergo identically the same treatment at 

 the hands of the investigators, and the 

 results have proved extremely interesting. 

 Valuable tables have been prejjared, show- 

 ing for each variety in the black 

 and red soils, separately, the quantity, 

 in tons per acre, of canes and of 

 tops ; the percentage of juice pro- 



duced by mill ; the pounds per gallon of 

 saccharose, of glucose, and of solids not 

 sugar ; the (juotient of pm-it^y ; the juice, 

 in gallons per acre ; the saccharose, in 

 pounds per acre ; and the sugar, in tons 

 per acre. With such results as these tables 

 show^ there is no hesitation in deciding 

 which is the best all-round cane for Bar- 

 bados, but the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, knowing from experience 

 how reckless the planters have been in the 

 past in going in for extensive cultivation 

 of a particular cane because it has been 

 profitably grown somewhere else under 

 totally different conditions of soil and 

 climate, advises the planters, in the first 

 instance, to select three or four only of 

 the most promising canes, which have 

 now been experimented with and which 

 may be likely to suit their district, and 

 finally, to adopt the variety which steadily 

 stands the test of local conditions. With 

 100,000 acres of land under cultivation it 

 is obvious that, if the introduction of an 

 improved variety of cane ensures an in- 

 creased yield of even only a quarter-of-a- 

 ton of sugar per acre, the planters and the 

 island generally would derive immense 

 beuefii from the change. 



Agriculture in Queenslandm 



STATE ASSISTANCE. 



THE annual report of the Dei)artment of 

 Agriculture of Queensland indicates 

 the thoroughness of the State supervision 

 of agricultural industries in the province. 

 In order to pave the way for agricultural 

 settlement, and attract farmers and their 

 families from the old world, skilled 

 experts have been appointed in various 

 branches to study the conditions under 

 which the farming interests may be 

 carried on, and there are now the follow^- 

 ing Government officials : — Agricultural 

 Chemist, Colonial Hotanist, Entomologist, 

 Instructor in Fruit Culture, Viticulturist, 

 Tobacco Expert, and Instructor in Coffee 

 Culture. There are four' State farms in 

 different parts of the Province, a Govern- 

 ment Agricultural College, and a Sugar 



Experiment Station at Mackay. Go- 

 vernment Veterinary Surgeons also are 

 attached to all the meat export depots to 

 examine the stock killed. 



A farmer sends the following to the Free 

 Lance : — " I see that an enterprising pork 

 butcher has made a corner in the Royal pigs 

 by buying the whole of the Queen's fat swino 

 from the Flemish Farm in Windsor Great Park. 

 A good many years ago I had some business 

 transactions with the Queen's bailiff at the 

 Norfolk Farm, and on one occasion I remember 

 meeting a butcher from the neighbourhood of 

 Slough who gave such an enormous price for 

 Her Majesty's porkers that I ventured to ask 

 him how he could afford to give such large sums 

 for the animals. 'You see, sir,' he answered 

 quietly, ' the Queen's pigs have such a lot of 

 legs I " And he softly drooped his eyelid." 



