Queensland Cane Sugar Industry. 



399 



A great impetus is stated to have been given to the sugar 

 industry in Queensland by the passing of 

 Su|ar^indust?y.^ ^^^^ " SugarWorks Guarantee Acts, 1893 

 to 1895." The original measure passed 

 in 1893 provides that the Government may, on the applica- 

 tion of an incorporated company, guarantee its debentures 

 with interest at 3I per cent., the proceeds to be devoted to 

 the erection of works for the extraction of sugar — taking as a 

 protection against loss a mortgage over the works and over 

 freehold land in the vicinity. This measure has been largely 

 utilised, and has opened to the sugar industry important 

 areas of land that would have remained for a long time un- 

 employed for sugar cultivation had the means for manufac- 

 turing been dependent on unaided private enterprise. The 

 area under cane in the Colony in 1897 was 98,641 acres, com- 

 pared with 83,093 acres in the previous year ; of this total 

 31,426 acres were defined as "newly-planted" or "stand 

 over cane," and sugar was crushed from the remainder only. 

 The total yield was 97,916 tons, of which 62,418 tons were 

 exported. 



\_Re port for 1897 of the Registrar-General for Queenslanel ~\ 



The development in the cheese trade of Canada which, so 



far as the exports show, has been con- 



^^}^^ f^^^^^^^^^ tinuous up to the present time, is well 

 m Canada. ^ ^ 



illustrated by the increase which has 



taken place in the number of cheese factories. In the year 

 1 87 1 there were in the dominion 353 of these establishments; 

 in 1 88 1 there were 709; by the end of the next decade the 

 number had risen to 1,565 ; and in the year 1897 it was 

 believed to be 2,556, exclusive of 203 factories which produced 

 both butter and cheese. The quantity of cheese sent out of the 

 country in 1897 was 1,466,000 cwts., which was about the same 

 as in the preceding year, when the export was higher than 

 had been previously recorded. Practically the whole of this 

 export came to Great Britain, only about 2,500 cwts. being 

 sent to other countries. With regard to creameries,the increase 



