316 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. 2, 1903. 
and lemon groves— avenues of coconut palms 
and some jak or artocarpus integrifoUa. 
Quite an interesting place— with sixty acres of 
colfee arabica and colfee Liberica shaded by 
orange and mango groves with the tamarind 
and star apple, cinnamon and cacao, papaw and 
banana scattered about the road sides. Un- 
fortunately tlie fruit supply of Queensland 
is much greater than the dem luu and the 
value of fruit in the markets is continually 
fluctuating. On one occasion a large ship- 
ment of pineapples was made to an Agent 
in Townsville and his reply was that the 
firm were very lucky in only showing a loss 
on the shipment of 5s— balance for freight ! 
The pineapples get ripe in the crates and so 
do the mangoes and oranges ; coconuts sell 
for one penny each and are the best paying 
product of the fruit farmed at present. 
Coffee came down very low in price and 
when the firm sent samples to a leading 
firm in (Sydney, they said they could match 
them for i^d per lb. Nearly all the cultivators 
of coffee have discontinued cultivating and 
many will not even gather coffee. Here in 
Geraldton I have had permission to gather 
coffee from four selections and it hardly pays 
my expenditure. The Messrs. Cutton Brothers 
(four) manage their fruit farm themselves 
and employ about fifty aborginals, black 
native labour at about ten shillings a month 
and their "tucker." The "tucker" means 
a good deal in Australia — good bread or 
johnny cake, tea, sugar and sometimes meat 
and as for the fruit on the trees they help 
themselves, Gutton's farm was a perfect 
"niggers' paradise " nt Christmas. About fifty 
of their friends came to visit them previous 
to tire Christmas holiday breaking-up, when 
they all marched off, carrying sacks of mango. 
They are also supplied with stick tobacco ; 
they refused ordinary leaf grown on the 
estate and wanted pig-tail tobacco ! 
A few evenings ago a native called to 
deliver some potatoes and he got benighted, 
so I gave him a quarter of a loaf of bread 
with half-a-bottle of guava jam spread over 
it. After eating it he said he wanted some 
tea !— and wound up by asking for a pipe, 
tobacco and a candle to light him home. 
It is needless to say that his entertainment 
cost more than the value of the potatoes. 
Wages are very low in Australia, especially 
in Queensland. A white man was engaged by 
one of my near neighbours to fell heavy 
timber, big virj^in forest trees— no child's 
play !— for the large sum of ten shillings per 
week, iSometimes £1 is paid for an expert — 
but a great deal of work is expected from 
a white man here for one pound a week, 
another potent reason for keeping down the 
progress of the Australian colonies. 
ADVICK TO EMIttKANTS. 
My advice to people iu England is to stop 
there (of course 1 include Scotland and Ire- 
land), for there is no dibputiug tlie fact that 
those who come here, leave the substance for 
the shadow. JMen get a job on tlie Railway, 
after working tor two or three days, ram 
comed and the line gets flooded, they shut 
down the works, pay the men oif and half of 
them "go on the Wallaby" to look for 
another job, sleeping under trees and living 
on tea and damper, shoulder the swag and 
billy can and become " stone broke," no 
wonder they look worn out before they 
reach old age. 
There is an English gentleman with his 
wife living on an Island opposite Clump Point 
by themselves, I believe. It is my wish when 
next at Clump Point to call and see them, if 
1 can get the cutter. When returning from 
the Cuttons last New Year's Uaj^ we tried 
to sail to Greraldton and were tacking all day 
in the cutter, managed to pass the Sc. 
Bernard Group and round two points of the 
Coast, but night came on and the ss. " Pal- 
mer " of the A. U. 6. N. Company picked 
me up in open sea (the Pacific Ocean;, and 
for 7s 6d took me up the Johnstone River 
calling at "Marillion " on the way. Provisiona 
seem double the price they are in ISugland 
— at present eggs are selling at Is 6d per 
dozen, bacon Is 3d per lb. cheese Is per lb. 
packet candles lOd,— matches 2d per box, tea 
Is 6d and 2s, 2s 61 and 3s. Chiefly cut up 
large leaf and called 
"CEYLON GOLDEN TIP," 
even the 3s tea was cut by machinery. The 
Matron of the Hospital asked my opinion on 
it and on turning it (the brew) out on a 
plate, it was all cut leaf, there were no 
"Pekoe tips." Many rubbishy teas sold in 
Brisbane are called •' Ceylon Golden tip tea," 
Very few of the so called Oriental names or 
brands are genuine Ceylon estate names. It 
is my firm belief that all kinds of blends 
are naade up of China, India, and Ceylon, and 
then called Ceylon golden tip tea of the best 
quality ! 
If Diogenes went round in his tub with a 
lantern he would not find many honest men 
in this enlightened twentieth century, es- 
pecially amongst tea dealers and grocers. 
•Some tea sold for a Ceylon planter and 
Manufacturer by an Agent I recommen- 
ded in Brisbane, averaged only 6id 
for the best tea. How much of the 
6,01)0 lb. of orange pekoe would be sold 
separately on its own value ? Very little, in- 
deed. I should fancy it is more likely to be 
used as a strengthener of a blend and there is 
tohere the profit is made. 
NO TEA DUTY IN QOEBNSLAND. 
At present there is no duty on tea in 
Queensland, but that fact does not make 
any difference in the prices still charged by 
the stores. Who makes the profit ? 
Times are very hard and all provisions 
are very dear in Australia. It is not the El 
Dorildo it was thirty years ago, and the 
prospects of improvement are not bright. 
If It were not for a Company like the 
COLONIAL SUGAR REFINING COMPANY 
and the Chinese growing bananas we should 
have to shut up shop altogether in Gerald- 
ton. The Goondi Sugar Mill employs a 
good many men and feeds and houses them, 
and" with sugar going down and stores 
coming up the river keeps things alive; 
then again half a dozen steamers call during 
the vvefci,k for bananas and the steamboat 
whibtle keeps us all awake both by night 
and day. I always get up by the Goondi 
Mill whistle at half past five in the morn- 
ing and yet the'days sUp away too quickly. 
