1 Ava., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 223) 
gates, nearly all of whom visited the Queensland court; that the greatest 
interest was manifested, and many inquiries made; that the wheat, 
sugar, and meat trophies were greatly admired; and that the statement was 
volunteered to Mr. Courtenay Luck, who is representing the Department, 
that the court was the finest display ever made in London. The message adds _ 
—and this is why I introduced the subject of the telegram—that the Mackay 
Meat Company’s tongues were greatly admired by Messrs. Spiers and Pond— 
about the biggest of English caterers—who say that a good business could be 
done with them if the matter were followed up. You yourselves saw the 
exhibit made by the Mackay Meat Company in the local show here yesterday, 
and many pronounced it a very fine display. It 1s most satisfactory to know, 
from a local point of view, that the stuff put up in the tins here—which we 
believe to be as good as any that can be put up, and which we believe superior 
to that from most other works—has received such recognition in England. I 
need not say that I am extremely pleased that so many of the delegates have 
seen their way to come up to-day with me. It is a great compliment to the 
Minister and to the officers of the Department. I think that I should not be 
in order in sitting down unless I proposed a toast, and, under those circum- 
stances, I ask you to fill your glasses. The toast I propose is, “Success to 
the Department of Agriculture,” and with that I couple the names of the hard- 
working officers of that Department who are now present. I can testify 
myself—although some of the public may perchance scoff, and ask what is the 
good of this expense—that those officers put their whole souls into their work ; 
that they devote an immense amount of time to it—not the ordinary from 9 
in the morning till 4 in the afternoon, but night work, and such time as any 
ordinary man can devote work to the progress and pushing on of the Depart- 
ment. The Under Secretary, whom you all know, and whom you have all come 
in contact with, is an exceedingly hard-working man. One of my friends says 
he is a giant for work. He has his whole heart in it, and I think I can do no 
better than conclude by asking you to drink the health of the Department of 
Agriculture and its technical advisers, coupled with the name of the Under 
Secretary. 
The toast having been drunk,— 
Mr. P. McLean said: The Minister has referred to me in very kind 
and flattering terms, and when it is so satisfactory to Mr. Chataway to know 
the progress the Department has made, and the appreciation that those 
engaged in the agricultural industry now hold its operations, I may say it is 
more satisfactory still to me, the more so when I look back 12 years ago, 
when I undertook the formation of that Department in 2 little rooms in the 
Lands Office, with the sum of £1,800 at my disposal to carry on the operations 
of the Department, and look at its present state with a fine building in 
Brisbane, and to know that during the last financial year something like 
£75,000 was placed by Parliament at its disposal. It is also extremely satis- 
factory to me, as head of the Department, to know that we have now, with the 
one solitary exception of Mr. Pound, the whole of the officers of the Depart- 
ment under one roof, and it is not necessary now for those visiting Brisbane 
to run hither and thither to get advice from the Department’s officers, for they 
can now all be found in the same building. The success of these Conferences 
is also gratifying, and I happen to know that it is impossible for us to gauge 
the results that follow from such meetings as we have just held. I hear of 
them not only in our own towns, but I hear of them from all parts of the 
world, for, as you are aware, our literature circulates wherever the British 
tongue is spoken. I hope, as we have gone on from success to success, that we 
may continue on the same lines, to which there can be only one result, and 
that is benefit to what is going to be the gigantic industry of this colony of 
Queensland. 
Mr. Jonny Manon (Agricultural College): I rise, as one of the oldest 
officers of the Agricultural Department, to thank our chief for the kindly 
manner in which he has spoken of us. We should all feel-very proud indeed 
