“1 Sepr., 1897.] | QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 259 
General - Notes. 
INDIA-RUBBER. 
CommanpER Lrrrer, R.N., in referring to the account of the India-rubber 
industry given by Mr. H. Cowley, manager of the Kamerunga Hxperiment 
Station at Cairns, states that the conditions therein mentioned as conducive to 
the growth of the trees furnishing “ Para’? rubber are to be found in the 
Solomon Islands. Mr. Cowley’says the conditions are: ‘Rich alluvial clay 
slopes by the side of rivers, where there is a certain amount of drainage and 
_ the temperature reaches from 89 to 94 degrees Fahr. at noon, and is never 
cooler than 73 degrees Fahr. at night, while rain is seldom absent for ten 
days together.” A large portion of the group is now under British protection ; 
hence it might be worth while considering whether certain of the islands might 
be exploited in this direction. From a meteorological journal kept by Captain 
Leeper in those islands from April to November during the years 1882, 1883, 
-and 1884, we quote the following :— 
“Highest shade temperature, 96 degrees Fahr.; lowest, 74 degrees 
Fahr.; daily mean, between 81 and 84 degrees; average rainfall, about $-inch 
_ per diem.” 
It is true there are no large rivers, but numerous small streams exist; 
and in the valleys through which they flow, possibly sufficient alluvial 
land may be discovered suitable for the growth of rubber-trees. It must be 
borne in mind that the interior of the large islands has- by no means been 
properly explored, and it is quite within the bounds of possibility that these 
trees or some similar variety are indigenous. The remaining months of the 
“year—viz., December to March—appear, from observations taken by local 
_ traders to be much the same as regards temperature, with rather more rain, 
this being the time of the north-west monsoon, and consequently the wet 
season. 
SUB-DRAINAGE. 
_Rererrine to Mr, A. Watt’s paper on sub-drainage, read at the late Farmers’ 
Conference at Gatton College, Mr. H. Logan, of Happy Valley, writes— 
“Mr. Watt, in describing methods of draining, said that stones can be used. 
with good effect, ‘if the large ones are put in the bottom and the small ones on 
“Mr. Watt is, I presume, a Scotchman, and that used to be the way in his 
time, but we have found out by experience that the reverse is the better way. 
We put the small ones in the bottom and the larger ones on top. It must 
surely be quite plain that if you put a large stone in the bottom of a 3-inch 
(bottom measurement) drain it must block the water. Stones for drains are 
broken up like road metal, and passed into a wire sieve to sift out all the dirt 
before placing them in the drains. That was the method adopted when I left 
_home in 1876. Perhaps they have fallen back on the old plan. 
“In the north of Ireland they have a plan as good as any, and cheap. 
That is when you are taking out the last‘ spitten,’ or what is called ‘ bottoming,’ 
* you leave about an inch or so on each side for what is called a ‘cheek’; then 
get a good stiff sod, put it on, grass side down, and tramp it well. This gives 
a drain that will last for a long time if the subsoil is stiff clay.” 
‘ FARM WAGES. iT 
Farm wages in the northern counties of England, according to the . 
Agricultural Gazette (England) of Jutie 14, do not appear to have ruled high 
at the northern hiring fairs lately held. ‘The following rates may be taken 
