366 



Agriculture in Queensland. 



The Nun Moth. 



A dispatch received through the Foreign Office from Sir 

 Francis Packenham in October last reported anxiety as pre- 

 vailing in Sw eden owing to the appearance in large quantities 

 of a grub, which, insinuating itself under the bark of firs and 

 pines, destroys the trees attacked with great rapidity. This 

 pest, called in Swedish " nunna " (nun), is believed to have 

 been originally imported from Germany, and from the descrip- 

 tion given it would appear to be identical with the "nun"- 

 moth (Liparis Monacha), from which the forests of Germany 

 and Central Europe have periodically suffered, although it 

 has never been reported as causing serious damage in Great 

 Britain. On the occasion of the widespread destruction 

 effected in 1890 in the pine and fir woods of Bavaria, a short 

 account of its ravages was issued by the Board of Agriculture. 



As pine forests form the principal riches of Sweden and 

 timber constitutes its chief staple export, the extensive de- 

 velopment of the plague in that country is a source of serious 

 danger. The remedy at present adopted has been the im- 

 mediate destruction of each tree affected, with the decisive 

 application of fire all round its vicinity — a process involving 

 ' 'I' great present loss, but one which it is hoped may result in 



the extirpation of the scourge. 



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ihiii ! 



Agriculture and j^ive Stock in Queensland. 



In the year 1897, according to the Report of the Registrar- 

 General for Queensland, the total area under cultivation in 

 the colony was 386,259 acres, being 49,484 acres, or 14*69 per 

 cent, more than in 1896. More than half of this increase is 

 accounted for by the extended area under wheat, there being 

 66,099 acres under this cereal, an increase of 27,157 acres; 

 but about 8,000 acres of this were not cut for grain. The 

 yield from the remainder was 1,009,293 bushels, equivalent to 

 1 7^ bushels per acre. The return per acre obtained in Queens- 

 land was only exceeded in one Australasian colony, viz.. 



