14 



to point out its importance and usefulness. It is possible 

 that Brisbane may be found to be nearly the northern 

 limit of Queensland for the production of the Olive, 

 as it has been found to be the southernmost, or very 

 nearly so, for the successful cultivation of the Mango, 

 the Jaca, the Alligator Pear, and other trees. Under 

 the auspices of colonists like Bidwell, Sir Robert 

 Mackenzie, and others, and of the Government Gardens, 

 many vegetable products of other climes have been 

 found to succeed in different parts of Queensland ; while 

 of late years the well-directed and carefully organised 

 operations of the Acclimatisation Society have introduced 

 into, and distributed throughout the colony, all the trees 

 above mentioned, and many other plants of more or less 

 utility, which are now common in our gardens. I need 

 hardly dwell upon the vastly greater importance to us, 

 than the introduction of mere fruits and vegetables, of 

 establishing in our midst such a source of wealth as the 

 Olive. We know that it thrives in Egypt, a country 

 still hotter and drier than Queensland ; and the follow- 

 ing letter from an intelligent farmer near Brisbane will 

 place beyond doubt the fact that there is nothing in the 

 climate inimical to success with this valuable tree : — 



Bulimba, 28th May, 1872. 

 Dear Sir, — In reply to your note of 18 May — In 1857 my land was 

 trenched two feet deep, and, on the 10th June, 1858, I planted eight 

 olive trees, all I could get from Shepherd and Co., of Darling Nursery, 

 Sydney, at that time. Six were Spanish two-year- old worked trees ; and 

 my trees are planted forty feet apart, and I have always used the land 

 between as flower beds, and for a few pineapples this season. The trees 

 have shed all their olives off the lower branches, only maturing on the 

 top branches. Mr. Hill thinks it was owing to the early rains ; I think 

 I am too much exposed to the "West for olives. 



Tours truly, 



W. CAIENCEOSS. 



Age of olive trees, fourteen years. 

 Two-years-old worked trees, Spanish. 

 Height of trees, twenty-five feet. 

 Single stem, six feet to branches. 

 Diameter, ten inches. 

 Soil — Dark-red sand, and stones. 

 Sub -soil — Eed clay and rotten slate. 



