vii. 



to launch ; or, upon looking round me, could I have found anyone else 

 who, having the necessary acquaintance with the subject, would be 

 likely to devote the time to such a task, I should not have presumed to 

 take the lead in an attempt which the Council of the Society were 

 unanimously of opinion should be made. 



I wish it to be understood by the Queensland Public that I do 

 not come before them as an Author ; but as a fellow-colonist deeply 

 interested in the development of the unrivalled resources of our soil, 

 and willing to devote an experience of some years' growth to the 

 attempt to encourage the establishment of an industry which would 

 utilise many an acre hitherto regarded as useless for cultivati-/n, and 

 which, if once established, would prove a source of great wealth to 

 a country to which I owe a debt of gratitude. 



My readers will not fail to recognise gratefully the countenance 

 and aid rendered by the Queensland Grovernment in this important 

 project. 



LEWIS A. BEENAYS. 



Brisbane, September, 1872. 



