298 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 ApRIt, 1900. 
DR. MAXWELL’S REPORT ON THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 
THe Queensland Mercantile Gazette, commenting upon the visit of ue 
Maxwell to report to the Minister for Agriculture on the position of the sug™ 
industry in Queensland, says :— 
The Government's action in employing a sugar expert to report upol if 
industry of such importance as sugar undoubtedly is to the colony, 18 fu 
justified by Dr. Maxwell’s report, which has just been published. Apart ie 
the fact that a large sum of public money is directly invested in the growth ‘ 
manufacture of sugar, the industry booms large as a factor in the product! 
wealth of Queensland, on account of the satisfactory returns per acre, and ! 
inherent tendency to close settlement. il 
With the majority of Dr. Maxwell’s report, those most directly interest F 
will, with few exceptions, undoubtedly agree. For years past it has been to 
well demonstrated by bitter experience that the land in various districts he 
become exhausted. Year by year the sugar districts from the Logan to 
Pioneer have borne reduced crops, until at last, in the former place, pees, ne 
almost a thing of the past. What has happened there will surely occur furtit 
North, unless steps are taken on the lines laid down by Dr. Maxwell towards 
revivification of the soil. The marvellous results obtained at Hawaii cannot ; 
hoped for here owing to different climatic conditions, but with careful cul’ 
tion, intelligent manuring, and judicious irrigation, we see no reason why an 
returns should not be obtained from land at present practically thrown out i 
cane culture ; while in the far North the crops soul become such as to Wee 
repay the laborious energy and enterprise expended in converting the co 
scrub lands into waving canefields. No one, unless they have Bat 
through the experience, can have the remotest idea of the work fi 
has been done in years past in this direction. Millions of money have We 
spent, and indomitable energy and perseverance intelligently applied, but W? 
the idea that the soil was so rich and the rainfall so copious that no artific i 
aid was necessary. And yet, twenty years ago men, with the authority 
experience of other lands, advocated the application of manure and water, “al 
their advice was unheeded. ‘This was but natural when the rain was measu é 
by feet in the wet season, and the soil so stimulating that the planter's 07) 
trouble was the quick growth of weeds—not the poorness of crop. hat 
advice been listened to, what a different. tale. would be told to-day! At ‘ of 
time money was being freely invested in the industry, and the extra C08 
irrigation and chemical works would not have been of much moment, ks; 
especially as sugar was then of such high value that the extra outlay would 8°" 
have been repaid. fa 
Dr. Maxwell’s recommendations, briefly put, are—the ap ointment, 0. ws 
specially qualified man to supervise and instruct the planters in cultivation 
all its branches, including irrigation. The chief stumbling-block seems 1? +4 
that of expense, seeing the low price to which sugar has fallen. Sie 
undoubtedly a question upon which the master minds of the industry Cr 
there are many) must bring their best intelligence to bear. If this be don®, i, 
have no doubt a solution of the problem will be found. The matter of UTI6* 
tion has been discussed many times, without any satisfactory conclusion, one 
at Pioneer, on the Burdekin. ‘his estate is in a dry belt, but by the fe 
irrigation the returns per acre are greater than in any district sout ie 
Townsville. In the absence of technical knowledge it would ill become US 4g 
discuss this problem, beyond stating the fact that every sugar district “he 
river with a copious supply of water running through it, so it is patent that 
‘first means towards irrigation are at hand. her 
As regards manure, there is a plentiful supply at our doors, but whet " 
of suitable quality we must leave the experts to decide. There is one Bue 
district blessed with meatworks, yet they find a difficulty in disposing of ™ 
desiccated refuse locally, although the price is within reach of all farmer’: ie 
shipment of superphosphates—claimed to be specially adapted for sugar eultt 
