380 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1898. 
LIQUORICK. , 
Enormous quantities of the liquorice root are dug out of the ground in the 
Aidin district. Messrs. McAndrews and Forbes, of London, have an establish- 
ment where they collect the root, pack it in bales, and export it chiefly to the 
United States, where the juice is used in the preparation of tobacco. I see no 
reason why the production of liquorice should not be made an industry in 
Queensland. All that it requires is, after digging up the roots, to cut them 
in suitable lengths, pack them in a kind of wool-press, and they are ready for 
export. 
CONCLUSION. 
The importance of the colony entering into the fig cultivation cannot be 
over-estimated, when it is remembered that the cost of experimenting is not 
very great. Any farmer can grow a row of trees on the margin of his allot- 
ment in much the same way that in Italy trees are grown along the border of 
land carrying cereals, adding very much to the effect of that beautiful 
country. There are parts of the country in which I am sure the fig will 
succeed, and if once we are successful it will bea source of great wealth to 
the colony. The Smyrna fig is deteriorating, as I have already said, owing, I 
suppose, to cultivation ; and if the colony obtains a footing in the markets of 
Europe, Asia Minor will have reason to regret its lethargy. The countries 
which mostly draw the best quality of figs, those called Elemes, are the United 
States and Germany. Those who wish to go into this industry can see a very 
fine fig tree at Dunwich, in front of the superintendent’s house. I believe 
Mr. Hamilton planted it, at all events he cultivated it, and it is a credit to 
him. It is the best fig tree 1 know of in the colony. 
gc 
SAN JOSE SCALE. 
In is said that this dreaded scale has been discovered in Victoria on the 
Eucalyptus trees, an inspector in that colony having discovered it near 
Wangaratta on some gumstrees. Ifthis report is correct it is a subject for 
alarm, as there can scarcely exist any means for destroying it in the bush and 
in scrub uniessit be by the fortunate discovery of some enemy of the scale 
which will attack it in its own strongholds. 
A warning to which The Times (England) gave utterance nearly four years 
ago as to the necessity of exercising vigilance lest the San José scale-insect 
should get introduced into this country, through the medium of American 
fruit, has been justified by last week’s events in Germany. As has been 
announced in our columns, the German authorities, as the result of the 
discovery of. the scale in a case of imported apples, have felt it necessary to 
prohibit the entry of fresh fruit from the United States. It is quite possible 
that the scale may have reached this country. It is perhaps the most formid- 
able of all the insect pests that Americau fruit-growers have to contend with. 
Tits systematic name is Aspidiotus perniciosus, and the creature is closely allied 
to the Mussel Scale, Aspidiotus conchiformis, which not uncommonly infests 
the bark of our apple trees in this country. The white woolly scale some- 
times found on our currant bushes is another member of the same family. 
Assuming that the San José Scale has reached North-west Europe alive, as the 
action of the authorities in Germany would appear to indicate, it still remains 
to be seen whether the creature can acclimatise itself. We may recall that 
neither the Colorado beetle nor the Hessian fly—both, it must be admitted, far 
removed in relationship from the scale insects, and probably less capable of 
adapting themselves to a change of environment—eyver obtained much foothold 
in this country. Nevertheless, the whole history of the San José Scale, so far 
as we know it, indicates it to belong to thatclass of pests for which prevention 
is in every way better than cure, 
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