1 Jury, 1899.]  ~QuEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 49 
be regularly worked, and plenty of moisture should be supplied. It is a good 
plan to give a little liquid manure to help them along. All blossoms should be 
picked off regularly to prevent the formation of seed-pods, which naturally 
weaken the plant. With very slight care, lovely little beds of pansies can be 
raised by even the children of the house, whether in town or country. All 
children love flowers, and every encouragement should be given them to engage 
in’ such a charming occupation as simple flower-gardening. Start them on pansies, 
sweet-peas, dianthus, crocuses, &e.—all of which require little trouble; and they 
will soon imbibe a taste for gardening, which will afford light and pleasing 
occupation for many a leisure morning and evening hour. 
What should a good pansy look like? is oftenasked. The Jfayj/lower says :— 
“Wlorists demand that a pansy to be perfect must have a round outline, flat and 
very smooth edge, petals thick and velvety, the three lower petals alike in their 
ground colour, the lines and markings in the centre bright and distinct, the two 
upper petals (which always differ in colour from the others except in solid 
colour sorts) perfectly uniform, and the flower to measure at least an inch and 
a-half in diameter.” 
Tropical Industries, 
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN THE NORTH. 
By A. A. RAMSAY, 
_ Government Sugar Experiment Station, Mackay. 
. 
Tire cane crops in the North (the Herbert, Johnstone, and Cairns) are more or 
less backward this year, owing probably to the dry weather of the past year. On 
the Herbert, the cane is particularly so, and cane for seed is very scarce. 
Unfortunately, “rot” is prevalent in the cane there this year, and the cane in 
some localities has been more or less damaged by flood. The Halifax cane is 
better, though there “rot” is also present. Last season a large percentage of 
Lahina cane was grown by the farmers there. This occasioned considerable 
trouble in the mill, as the cane, though shredded, parted with its juice with 
‘difficulty, the shredded portions passing through the second mill, but not being 
torn up as was the case with other canes. : 
* A eane, “ Moore’s Purple,” introduced from New South Wales, does fairly 
well on the Herbert, though it has proved unsuitable for the climate of the 
Johnstone. In the latter place this cane sun-cracks badly, and soon deteriorates. 
This cane is very liable to be attacked by gumming. The ary 1 under cultivation 
is steadily increasing, though not with such rapid strides 4 on the Johnstone 
and at Cairns. 
Though the weight per acre is not great on the Herbers (probably about 14 
tons—17 tons on an average of all lands cultivated, tho sh some individual 
farmers get nearly double that amount), the cane is sweet (2 oout 14 to 14°5 per 
cent. cane sugar an average), and in October often reaches 16'4 per cent., with 
‘5 to ‘6 per cent. fruit sugar and quotient of 89-90, but the fibre in the cane 
reaches 11:5 per cent. 
Of the varieties of cane cultivated in the North, Rapoe or Rose Bamboo is 
the principal one, though Striped Singapore is becoming a great favourite, and 
there is a large demand for this cane at present as seed. ‘The total area under 
Meera is small. This remark also applies to Dupont cane, which is principally 
grown by farmers in the grub-infested portions of the Johnstone. The drawback 
to this cane is that it requires to be cut exactly when ripe, as both before and 
