S66 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[February r, 1892. 
to these men and to crush their cane for them. 
There are eighteen men duo to come to this district 
and will he located on Havana estmo The 
scheme is not popular, and the politicians who 
have no responsibilit; are doing the best to stop 
the experiment before over it rtoeives a trial. They 
are not likely, however, to succeed, and pretty much 
the same may, 1 think, be said of the experiments. 
The Australian farmers ore, moreover, rapidly 
taking up the work of oano growing, seme 60,000 
tons of oano having been produced this year, 
while the amount for next year will show an 
increase of at least 76 per cent. 
As I hove said this year's results are proving 
disappointing. The density stands steadily at 
104 Baumd, but the crops are light, and though 
the forest land is prodnoing somewhat richer cane, 
that from the scrub lands, a most important por- 
tion of the crop, only shows sucrose at a little 
over 14 per cent. 
This, with us, is poor, as we havo been aocus- 
tomed to at least lU per cent, but the season is 
ohielly aoeountabls for it though some do assert 
that the quality of the oane grown here is 
steadily deteriorating. When we oompare the 
results obtained by the beet manufacturers our 
extraction is not very satisfactory. An analysis of 
second megasa from oane showing 11'07 per cent 
sucrose betrays the fact that we still lose 4‘bU per 
cent or in other words, our percentage of extraction 
is only 89T3 per cent. Even this result is not 
obtained in many of our smaller mills. 
I note that Homebnsb and Havana, the two 
largest faotories in this distriot, have adopted an 
improvement in the method of applying maoera- 
tion, so as to try and save more of the sugar. 
Hitherto the megass on leaving the first rollers 
was sprinkled by a perforated pipe with water and 
steam, but now it is proved advisable to further 
inorense the beat of the megass, which hitherto, 
after the operation, stood at 180 deg. E. Under the 
present arrangement the megass travels from the 
first to the second rollers, at a slow speed, over a 
bed of perforated iron, the whole being enclosed 
and made steam-tight, except at the ends. As 
the megass travels through this enclosed spaoe, 
steam enters into it from underneath, thus 
raising the temperature considerably. Already this 
plan has served to elleot an appreciable saving, 
and unless already adopted by your millers would 
be well worth their attention. I may add that 
the proportion of water which should bo used to 
the ton of oane in maceration haa been found to 
bo about seventy gallons. 
As I do not know exactly the order of work 
in your sugar bouses, your readers must excuse 
me if at times I give them stale news. I only 
profess to give Queensland information and to 
note the change here, even if they be a matter 
of history with you. Our ordinsry plan hitherto 
in the mill has boon to treat the juice in the 
olaiifiera first, then subside, then clean and oon- 
oentrate and subside again ready for the vacuum 
pan. Mow the order is being somewhat ohanged. 
By an increase in the use of lime the first sub- 
sidence is made more complete and the cleaning 
pans are entirely unused at one mill, while they 
are used alter the triple efieot instead of before 
in another. In the latter, also, the juice is 
passed through bag fillets between the first sub- 
sideti and the triple (fleet. It is mote than 
probable that still further eflorta will ho made 
to clean the juice more thoroughly in the clati- 
fiers, as it is obviously tho safest and wisest to 
get the dirt out of the juice as (luiokly as 
possible the moment it leaves the oafto. 
jIbroubv. 
[W'o add an extract from an Australian souree. 
—El). T. /!.] 
THE QUEENSLAND SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
A correspondent of the Melbomne Argm. writing 
from Maokay on tho loth of July says Tho evolu- 
tion of the Queensland sugar imiuatry on the lines I 
forecasted at the end of last year is now almost an 
aoeompliehert fact. The strongest company engaged 
ill sugar making in Australia— the Colonial Sugar 
Refining Company — has taken the matter in band, 
and in this district, at any rale, have already made 
great progress. Doubtless the terms on which the 
Homebush lauds are being leased and sold to formers 
have ere this been communioated to your readers ; 
also the fact that the applicants have been so t-umc- 
rous that tho oompany is already in a position to pick 
and ohooHo its tenants. 
The price to be paid for cane grown by these 
sollprs may run as high as Ids. per ton, if a 
Bufiioiont quantity is produced, thus beating out 
a statement I made lost year that a manager 
who could not make sugar at a profit with oane 
at Ids. a ton, and sugar £13 on tho looal wharf, 
was not worth his salt. It is now generally admitted 
that even with colored labor, oane can not be 
produced at lees than Ids., and, oomsequenlly, when 
it can be obtained at that figure, minus all anxiety 
and risk, the mill owner is obviously at an ad- 
vantage. The season on wbioh we are now en- 
tering promises to be a fairly good one. The 
amount of sugar produced throughout the colony 
will be about the same as last year, the two princi- 
pal distriota, Maokay and Bnndaberg, prodnoing 
nearly, if not quite, 40,000 tons between them. 
This will leave the rest of the colony to contri- 
bute 20,000 tons. Owing to short plantings and the 
fact that little oane was left unharvested last year, 
it is believed that tho output of this distriot will 
be considerably less than last year, but for next year 
the acreage under oane and the results will probably 
be equal to the best on record. 
A noticeable feature in connection with the 
present season’s operations will bo the produc- 
tion by one of the central mills — with white labor 
only — of some 1500 tSns of sugar, showing that 
Europeans have cultivated no loss than 15,000 tons 
of oane. On all hands contracts are being let to 
Europeans for cutting, loading and carting same, 
tho first two operations having been in the past 
looked upon as exclusively kanaka's work. There 
is no likelihood of a scarcity of white labor during 
the next six months, as largo numbers of the men 
who by striking lo.st their usual employment in the 
western pastoral districts, haiu drifted here in 
search of work. Near one mill alone there are over 
100 men camped and awaiting the commencement 
of crushing. Since tho first of the year over 75 in. 
of rain have fallen, this being 6 in. over the mean 
annual fall. In tho face of this it is hardly surpris- 
ing that the cane should be somewhat backward, 
but during this month with tho splendid weather we 
have lately been having, it will be ripe enough for 
harvcstiDg.— Qiieensfund Planter and Farmer. 
“ AN APPEAL TO TEETOTALERS.” 
To fkr Editor of the Mancheeter Courier. 
Sir,— Ou the 27th ultimo you wore good enough to 
admit into yonr columns a letter of mine eutitlod 
“ W. E. Gladstone end Unadulterated Coffee." On 
the evemng of the day roiorred to the “ United King- 
dom Alliauco ” held their great meeting in your city, 
uu wbicli occasion the Hon. John Motley made him- 
self very eouBpiouous. Ti:o concluding sentence m 
my letter was : — 
•‘The leaders of, temperance alliances should first clear 
tho uou-alooholio beverages of alt abuses before they 
