302 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JouRNAL. [1 Apri, 1900. 
a new stimulus was given the industry by the large reward offered by Napoledt 
for a sugar that could be used on the table in the place of cane sugar shub Y 
by the embargo acts of the war between France and Germany. ‘Ihe methot 
of extraction were rapidly improved. But at that time the percentage of sugtt 
in the beet was small (6 per cent.), and it was separated with difficulty from He 
many non-sugar constituents present. Since that time a beet has been gradual) 
developed, having a higher percentage of sugar and less of the un artic, 
impurities. So that from the 6 per cent. of sugar as found by Marggra. th 
sugar-beet of good quality now contains 15 per cent. or more; and where r 
took eighteen tons of beets to make one ton of sugar, it now takes less t ; 
one-half of that amount. Thus the cultivation of the beet has in @ ae 
generation shifted the centre of the sugar industry from the tropic to t 
temperate zone. ; 
The methods used in the manufacture of sugar are practically the sant 
whether from the beet or from the cane. In brief, the juice contains *” 
sugar is expressed or extracted from the cane or beet, treated to remove wei 
saccharine substances which prevent crystallisation, evaporated in a vacuur 
apparatus, the sugar crystallised, and then separated from the molasses in Ce?e 
fugals. The sugar thus obtained, known as raw sugar, contains some impurly’ 
from which it is separated by the refining process. Kaw sugar from these vo 
sources takes on in each the character of the impurities from which tt has BY 
yet been freed. From raw sugar the pure sugar of the market is crystal®” 
out, and in every case the sugar is identical in chemical composition, appeal” fs 
and properties, whether it is derived from the beet or from sugar-cane. By ‘ie 
chemical test can pure crystallised sugar from these different sources be 
tinguished as to its origin. There is a popular impression to the cons « 
however, and it is often asserted that beet sugar has less sweetening powe a 
this cannot be true, andis pure prejudice. Methods of refining raw sugat te o 
been so improved within the last few years that it may be truly said that 4 
products are so nearly pure chemically. 
RU BBER-PLANTING. 
Certain portions of Queensland appear to possess a soil, climate, and t ‘i 
growth identical, except in the kinds of timber, with the conditions tours the 
the Atlantic or Gulf sides of Mexico. ‘This zone includes portions hop we 
States of Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco, Here the temper 55 
ranges in summer from 73 degrees to 96 degrees Fahr., and in winter from; is 
to 86 degrees. The rainfall varies from 95 to 180 inches per annum. «4 
under these conditions that the variety of rubber, Castilloa elastica, flours 
best. If we consider the climatic conditions of the districts arou 
Geraldton, and Cardwell, we shall find that in rainfall, temperature, $l) 
elevation they compare most favourably with the conditions which obtain Bib 
Atlantic side of Mexico. At Geraldton the mean annual rainfall 18 ai, 
inches; the rainfall during 1898 reached 139°94: inches, the number of Bis, 
being 145. At Cairns the mean annual rainfall is 98°34, and at Cardwell 5 tot! 
with 131 and 106 rainy days respectively. The summer heat on the J ohns” 
River varies from 85 to 95 degrees Fahr. at midday in the shade ; the veeage 
temperature ranges from 70 to 80 degrees Fahr. At 10 p.m. the summe? at 
is from 70 to $0 degrees Fahr., and the winter temperature at the same ii 
averages from 40 to 60 degrees Fahr. The jungle consists of a dense ae 
lawyer canes, bamboos, bananas, climbing raspberries, vines, with an occas uf 
clump of trees. ‘The soil is of the very richest description, having a deP¥ jos 
from 10 to 20 feet of the same character as that on the surface. Vast st ope 
of this fertile land are still unalienated. Standing on the summit of a hil oak 
looks over a vast expanse of level country stretching away in all directiODy "of 
covered with the primeval scrub In the upper reaches of the south bran’ eh 
the river, where a waterway has been cut through the voleanic soil by t1@ pit 
a depth of even 100 feet of soil identical with that on the surface 1s visible 
nd Cairne 
