150 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Fes., 1898. 
is the principal means of communication, but there is an accident on it nearly 
every day, so that, while it is useful for freight, passengers prefer to go round 
to Rio by sea, as being slower but safer. Brazil coffee-growing may be 
profitable, but is evidently not an occupation for a married Ceylon planter 
or for anybody who is not prepared to rough it a good deal. 
In marked contrast to the above is the life of the planter in Queensland. 
Here we have all the requisites for successful coffee-growing combined with a 
salubrious climate, although a warm one in the North. Here the planter is 
in the midst of British civilisation, surrounded by his own countrymen, and 
protected by British law. He has the greatest facilities for communication 
both by railway—on which accidents, and those only trivial, are rarely heard 
of—and by three or four fleets of magnificent steamers which call in at every 
port on the coast two or three timesa week. As to health, there is very 
little sickness, even in the most Northern coffee districts, whilst doctors are 
settled in every small centre of population. In most of the towns there is a 
good hospital, and not only the necessaries of life but also all the luxuries of 
large cities can be obtained at not much greater cost than in the oldest cities 
of Australia. Yellow fever or any other epidemic disease is unknown, except 
when the rare and rarely fatal dengue fever makes its appearance, say once in 
about thirty years. The fact that European women and children live in the 
sugar and coffee districts from year’s end to year’s end, without suffering from 
heat or malaria is sufficient evidence of the salubrity of the climate and of the 
comfort of living. As to the profit to be derived from the cultivation of coffee 
in Queensland, a perusal of our articles on the subject in the Journal will 
amply demonstrate that larger yields are obtained here per tree than in any 
other coffee-producing country. We have just been informed on reliable 
authority that 7 lb. of clean coffee per tree has been obtained this season from 
trees on a plantation at the Buderim Mountain, about fifty miles from Brisbane. 
Thus there is everything in the planter’s favour in Queensland. All that 
is required is capital to enter into the industry on a large scale. 
RAMIE FIBRE EXPERIMENTS IN NEW SOULH WALES. 
From the Sydney Daily Telegraph we learn that a sample of decorticated fibre 
from the ramie or rhea plant, grown at the Wollongbar Experiment Farm on 
the Richmond River, is now on view at the office of the Minister for Mines 
and Agriculture. Mr. Sydney Smith, some time ago, sent a bundle of ramie 
“ribbons,” as the stalks of the plant in their undecorticated condition are 
called, but with a certain amount of preparation to permit of their working, 
to the Agent-General in England. His object was that the utility and value 
of the ribbons might be properly tested. ‘The returned samples, with a report 
from the Agent-General, ee been received. The report includes observations 
of experts on the samples of rough ribbons submitted. They were treated by 
the Rhea Fibre Treatment Company, Limited, of London, and a sample of 
“ filasse,” as the fibre when separated from the stalk and deprived of its gum 
is termed, has been returned. The sample was treated by the Gomess process. 
From one of the accompanying letters from the Rhea Company, the following 
quotation is made:—My foreman . . . considers the ribbon excellent, and 
far superior to the rubbish that has hitherto been on the market. The ribbons 
will work well, as the fibre is good and strips well generally. Can you make 
me an offer to supply ? Why not start the industry in New South Wales? 
We would make good terms for our patents. Another letter states: —We 
can use any quantity of it, value about £14 per ton; but it won’t keep this 
figure ; our decorticator would cheapen it and improve the condition. I would 
recommend you to indent patents and filasse it in the colony, and send home 
the filasse, which would be better. A third letter runs as follows:—I have 
