May  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
691 
COFFEE  AND  TEA  IN  QUEENSLAND. 
The  colonists  of  North  Queensland  are  very  fond  of 
dabbling  in  experiments  in  cur  Ceylon  staples,  but 
without  making  much  progress.  We  notioe  from  our 
exchanges  last  to  hand  that  Mr.  B.  Y.  Webster 
(formerly  of  Opalgalla,  Battota)  has  been  writing 
to  the  press  on  “ Tea— how  it  is  grown  and  pre- 
pared in  Ceylon” ; while  on  Coffee  there  is  rather 
a long  letter  signed  ‘‘W.  J.  Thompson,  Cairns,” 
in  whioh  some  rather  ourious  statements  and 
calculations  appear.  We  quote  as  follows : — 
COFFEE  IN  QUEENSLAND. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Queenslander. 
Sir, — There  are  soadered  along  the  whole  coast  of 
Queensland,  specimens  of  both  varietie-i  of  coffee 
(Arabian  and  Librrian)  flourishing  without  attention 
or  care,  and  giving  an  annual  crop  per  tree  that 
would  make  them  the  show  tiees  on  any  of  .the 
Southern  Indian  coffee  estates.  Some  of  these  trees 
are  as  mnoh  as  12  years  of  age.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that  for  some  years  they  have  been  allowed  to  grow 
at  “ their  own  sweet  will,’’  then  some  one  has 
attempted  to  prune  them  into  shape,  but  still  they 
crop  heavily.  In  any  other  country  they  would  re- 
sent such  treatment  by  either  dying  out  or  refusing 
to  orop. 
With  all  the  experience  of  Southern  Indian  and 
Ceylon  coffee  planters  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  it 
is  astonishing  to  hear  of  men  who  are  looked  upon 
as  competent  advisers  still  advocating  the  hillside 
system  of  planting.  The  fault  evidently  lies  in  the 
form  in  which  the  question  is  put.  If  we  ask, 
“How  do  you  plant  ooffee  ?”  we  get  for  answer  ‘>On 
newly  felled  jangle  (scrub)  at  an  elevation  of  from 
2000  feet  to  5000  feet ; pot  boles  are  made  6 feet 
apart  among  the  stumps  and  logs;  and  the  plants 
set  in  them;  the  weeding  is  done  once  a month  by 
a gang  of  coolies.”  Now,  in  this  answer  which  is  a 
truthful  one,  there  are  two  things  that  we  do  not 
possess  in  any  quantity — that  is  elevation  and  coolies, 
so  we  had  better  refer  to  the  coffee  trees  that  have 
already  told  us  so  much.  They,  we  shall  And,  are 
flourishing  best  ou  flat  land  with  good  natural  drain- 
age (nearly  every  sugar  planter  has  a few  in  his 
private  garden),  and  they  are  giving  an  annual  crop 
of  from  3 lb  to  5 lb  of  clean  coffee  per  tree  at 
from  3 to  5 years  of  age.  If  we  ask  the  experienced 
planter  what  he  was  told  by  the  experts  and  scien- 
tists he  called  in  to  report  on  leaf  disease  in  the 
years  1878-9,  or  still  better  refer  to  their  printed 
reports,  we  shall  find  that  they  attribute  the  appear- 
ance of  hemilia  vestatrix  to  (1)  Want  of  deep  cul- 
tivation; (2)  the  proximity  of  half-rotten  roots  and 
kgs;  (3)  the  excessive  use  of  the  hce  and  half  buryiDg 
weeds  in  so-called  renovating  pits.  This  then  is  the 
pernicious  system  that  those  asking  for  information 
are  told  to  adopt ! Fortunately  the  few  trees  that  can 
be  distributed  by  the  Acclimatisation  Sooiety  will  be 
too  isolated  to  incur  any  great  risk,  but  should  this 
system  be  carried  out  on  a large  acreage  the  result 
cannot  but  be  disastrous.  Apert  from  this  the  old 
system  is  both  expensive  and  slovenly  compared  with 
that  advooated  by  me  in  my  last  article  on  the  subject. 
Let  us  compare  the  estimate  of  cost  of  upkeep  only 
with  the  two  systems  on  50  acres  at  the  lowest  cost 
of  labour  : — Old  System  : One  man  to  every  3 acres 
equal  to  16  kanakas  at  15s  per  week  equal  to  £12;  52 
weeks  at  £12  per  week,  £624.  New  System:  Two 
ploughmen  at  £1  per  week,  £104;  rations,  £52;  2 
small  ploughs  £11 : 2 harrows  or  scarifiers  £9  ; 4 horses 
at  £10,  equal  to  £40;  total  £216.  Here  at  once  in  the 
first  year  we  have  a saving  of  £408,  with  the  highest 
State  of  cultivation,  under  which  treatment  the  coffee 
tree  will  sit  up  and  show  what  it  re«l  y can  do  iu  anew 
country.  If  we  put  the  whole  £408  agaiust  oost  of 
stumping  the  land  we  still  have  the  raving  in  future 
years,  whioh  will  go  beyond  the  cost,  of  picking  the  I 
heaviest  crop  with  outside  labour. 
Some  two  years  ago  the  system  I am  now  advocat-  , 
mg  thrust  itself  upon  me,  through  seeing  about  ten  | 
coffee  trees'  planted  in  one  row,  and  all  had  just 
borne  a heavy  crop,  and  were  withstanding  a drought 
from  which  orange  and  other  fruit  trees  were  suffering. 
The  sum  I worked  out  upon  the  spot  was  something 
like  this— 10  trees,  bearing  51b.  each=50lb.;  1 acre 
planted  8ft.  x 8ft.=646  trees ; 646  multiplied  by  5= 
3,2301b.,  or  1 ton  8cwt.  2qr.  241b.,  or  at  Is.  per  lb.= 
£161  10s.  per  acre.  As  I knew  that  figures  could  not 
always  be  trusted  I halved  it,  and  still  felt  quite 
satisfied  with  the  result— namely,  £80  per  acre  per 
annum.  The  next  thing  that  struck  me  was  the  ease 
with  which  a large  acreage  could  be  “kept  in  hand  ” 
by  the  use  of  implements  and  horses,  and  thus, 
as  far  as  coffee  was  concerned,  do  away  with  the 
labour  question.  Any  one  with  the  least  knowledge 
of  the  use  of  field  implements  will  at  once  see  that 
by  planting  on  ploughed  land  the  space  between  the 
plants  when  planted  8ft.  x 8ft.  can  be  kept  clean  by 
a horse-hoe  or  scarifier,  not  a weed  need  be  allowed 
to  seed,  and  grass  will  be  entirely  eradicated  in  hot 
weather.  In  the  case  of  sugar  on  stumped  land  the 
rows  can  only  be  kept  clean  with  implements  while 
the  cane  is  young  and  the  hoe  is  required  to  clean 
among  the  cane,  but  in  the  matter  of  coffee  there  will 
be  a free  passage  for  horses  across  and  across  the 
field.  Acting  upon  these  figures  and  the  settlement 
of  the  labour  difficulty  by  the  adoption  of  this  system 
I obtained  the  lease  with  the  right  of  purchase,  at  a 
stated  figure,  of  this  selection,  and  have  now  some 
20,000  plants  of  the  best  variety  of  coffee,  known  in 
Southern  India  as  Oooy  [src?— Coorg]  coffee,  ready  for 
the  field.  I anticipate  a great  success  in  this  industry, 
more  especially  if  the  capital  is  forthcoming  to  enable 
me  to  double  my  acreage  next  year. 

NORTH  BORNEO  DEVELOPMENT  OOR- 
PORATION. 
A report,  dated  Jan.  8th,  has  been  received  from  Mr. 
W.  B.  Pryer,  manager  of  the  above  corporation,  in" 
whioh  he  reports  the  operations  undertaken  during 
the  six  months  ending  Dec.  31  last . The  total  land 
planted  with  various  products  approximates  1 000 
aores,  which  may  be  considered  good  for  the  time 
operations  have  been  in  progress.  With  regard  to 
coffee,  the  Byte  estate  has  reeeived  the  most  atten- 
tion, the  total  area  planted  there  being  ataout  170 
acres.  The  total  acreage  of  ooffee  planted  on  the 
three  estates  is  215  acres,  with  75  acres  more  in 
course  of  being  planted.  Mr.  Pryer  states  ; — I venture 
to  hope  that  the  area  planted  up  this  year  will  be 
considered  satisfactory.  The  acreage  under  coffee 
vies  in  size  with  most  other  British-owned  estates, 
with  one  exception,  in  the  Far  East ; a large  number 
of  Manila  hemp  plants  are  growing  well ; the  aoreage 
under  ooconutsand  sago  will  show  a yearly  advance 
in  value  out  of  proportion  to  the  money  spent  on  their 
upkeep  ; the  6ugar  cane  promises  well,  and  various 
other  produots  have  been  tried  with  result  with 
but  one  or  two  exceptions,  that  would  seem  to  be 
worth  while  following  up.  We  have  a settled  popu- 
lation, small  at  present,  but  giving  'signs  of  consider- 
able increase  in  the  future,  to  draw  a supply  of  cheap 
and  reliable  labour  from,  and  who  are  also,  without 
expense  to  us,  putting  a value  upon  the  land;  we  have 
Is  rge  nurseries  of  coffee  seedlings,  many  thousands  of 
Manila  hemp  suckers  ready  to  plant  out,  and  a large 
supply  of  sugar  cane  ready  to  afford  tops  for  the 
future  extension  of  this  industry,  and  we  are  daily 
advancing  in  our  knowledge  of  our  land,  and  the 
purposes  for  whioh  it  is  best  adapted.— A.  and  C. 
Express , Maroh  10. 
Peakl  Fishebies. — The  Government  of  India  has 
referred  the  question  of  the  Mergui  pearl  fisheries 
to  the  Seoretary  of  State  for  India.1  His  decision 
is  awaited  with  interest  in  the  East,  as  the  looal 
Government  olaim  the  right  of  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion. whioh  is  at  variance  with  the  position  of. the 
British  Government  in  the  BehJng  Sea  controversy. 
—Colonies  and  India. 
