1 Juny, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 97 
when they were let out of the yard, they could get there quicker than I could. 
T need not add that the land was thoroughly turned over, but, even with that 
overhaul, I was surprised in the following spring to see so many plants springing 
up which the pigs had missed. 
Tt only remains now for the nuts to be properly dried, for, if left ina heap 
when first gathered, they are apt to sweat. Those that are on the main roots 
must be picked off by hand, and the whole well sifted to free them from sand. 
They are then ready to be bagged and sent away to market. 
The weight of a bushel of nuts is 22 1b., and about 90 Ib. can be got into 
an ordinary corn sack. The quantity I grew would amount to about 90 bushels 
to the acre, besides what the pigs had. The question will now be asked whether 
the crop is a paying one for a farmer to enter into, and I am sorry that I had 
to come to the conclusion that it is not, and I will explain why. 
In Virginia, U.S.A., there are farmers growing 10 and 20 acres, and the 
fruits are in common use in all the great cities of America; hence there is a 
demand for them. Here there is no demand, although the oil extracted from 
them is equal to the finest in the world, and, in my opinion, is far superior to 
olive oil. But the people of Queensland do not know the nuts; or if any do 
know them, they just know they are eatable, and are quite ignorant of the many 
uses they can be put to. 
The Farmers’ Alliance in America places the minimum price the grower 
is to get for the nut at 3d per lb., and that price will pay; of course, if the 
price goes up, all the better for the farmer. : 
On the strength of the above, when my first crop was ready, I went to 
Brisbane determined to get not less than 3d. per lb. I went to the produce 
merchants at Roma-street markets, but none came there for sale, and they could 
«not name a price, although I knew that the retailers were selling them at 8d. 
and 10d. per lb. I was recommended to try some of the largest fruiterers’ 
shops, which I did, and I had a very weary time of it tramping about Brisbane. 
I would rather be working on the farm any day. 
I did not get an offer for any on that day. On another occasion, a fruiterer 
said he would take a bag, and he asked me the weight of it. When I said about 
90 Ib., he seemed frightened, and said he meant a sugar-bag, which I refused 
to send him. 
I then tried a Chinaman; he offered me 14d. per lb., but after much 
haggling I got 2d., delivered at his place. Asked how many bags he would take, 
he surprised me by saying, “ Bringee all.” 
But my troubles were not over. I forwarded by rail, and then to my 
astonishment and disgust I found the freight came to about three times the 
ordinary rates, 
On showing the consignment-note to John Chinaman, who could read 
English well, to my disgust he laughed at me, and showed me a consignment;note 
of nuts from his countrymen at Warwick ; he had paid less railage from Warwick 
than I had paid from Nerang. Of course any who read this will wish to know how 
it is worked, but, instead of finding out from my own countrymen, I had to find 
it out from a Chinaman, and be called a fool by him in the bargain. It is very 
simple. . Consign as ground nuts, not earth nuts, and they come under some 
other class. I asked “John” what he did with the nuts, and he told me that 
what was not sold in Brisbane was shipped to Thursday Island and China. I 
am of the opinion that it will pay a pig farmer to grow the nuts, provided he 
arranges for the pigs to do their own rooting. I am not a pig farmer, for I do 
not like the animals about the place. I consider the nuts cannot be grown and 
hand-cleaned to pay at less than 3d. per 1b.—the minimum price in America. 
