212 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Max. 190) 
in the world, T doubt if the average would exceed 5 cwt. In Queenslant 
have a very possible (and frequently reached) 20 ewt., a probable 15 t0 1 4 at 
an average, and an easy and ordinary 10 to 12 ewt. with very little attem? at 
cultivation, per acre. This with a “best possible” of 28 cwt. off an ace” 
under 700 trees. of 
Tt might be argued that, the extra bearing capabilities of coffee ai 
admitted, the actual necessity for so much labour is not obviously lessen® jan 
its gathering. But consider the cost of scrambling over 40 acres of steep“ | 
for 5 tons of coffee and then carrying it down the enhanced distances (una 
able in the larger area) to the cost of collecting the same amount from 
accessible, approximately situated land of one-quarter the extent. It ei 
practically that the same expenditure of energy will produce a greater rest 
or less labour for the same work. In picking, the work must undoubte Vie 
reduced as much as possible on account, as I have said, not of the cost ot t 
labour so much as its scarcity. Even picking a 10-acre block, giving 10 Y" 
5 tons, means some 15 tons of cherry, which, spread over three months ot 
would keep two men or boys hard at it. Practically it means, therefor® ©» 
two men or boys will be necessary for even 10 acres, besides the farmer bunt ; 
Were this multiplied by ten, the obtaining of sufficient hands would be ae 
an impossibility, as can be readily understood, while the extra hand of 
needed is generally readily obtainable. Now as to the paying. This 5 tod . 
10 acres, if sold at £50 a ton (I am purposely quoting figures so low that | 
the most pessimistic cannot cavil at on the score of over-sanguineness); WY | 
give a gross income of £250. Deducting, say, £2 a week for the ow” vo | 
living, a balance of about £150 remains, out of which to pay for We | 
helping hands for a few months, transport of crop to town, and interest uae |! 
part repayment of the initial cost spread over the first three or four ye 
surely a fair margin. ne | 
Jt will be seen, therefore, how coffee, as an industry in Queensland a ft 
present day, is practically debarred the large capitalist with his thousa 3 | 
acres, while the workers—the men who have a selection on which, pe ie || 
the wife and family are already resident—the men who have employmer she | 
many of the local industries that need them only for a given period ° | 
year—and especially the men who, without any outside work, having enoug Bs a 
to see them through the initial period of waiting, take up small selection tad 
make coffee culture their work: these can make, if not a fortune, at | 
very good and comfortable living of it and independence. ; 
In this way coffee culture in Queensland will be, and already is ™ 
instances, the small selector’s best paying crop, or what would be 4 
expression than the poor man’s crop—the working man’s crop. 
mall 
pett@ | 
N oO. 2. ye; | 
In the foregoing article entitled “ Coffee—the Poor Man’s Crop,” I a 
of course, been speaking of coffee as an already opened-up estate, and | 
gone into the question of cost of opening, &e. ‘This I hope to do in cow 
time, but a few remarks on points that have already been publicly touched er | 
may be of advantage. With regard to the cost of opening, the fact of ha aity 
so many acres of coffee, whether in bearing or not (since it is a commer 
that once in does not require an annual replanting), very much adds 4, | 
value of the farm, and if in bearing, and an income can be shown on the “ 
from it, very much enhances that value, so that the cost of opening can be of we | 
upon in the light of an investment, the full value of which is realisable sho 
the farm be sold. the 
The advantages that the cultivation of coffee in small areas has fia 
farmer or the family in the bush, and the overcoming of labour difficulOt on 
in this way, are obyious. This opens up the question of education of eh ip 
in connection with coffee-picking—another point that many bring forW') ys 
talking of coffee. In the foregoing I have allowed for the employment of ban 
