304 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 APRIL, 1900. 
Some writers say that five years is sufficient time to wait before commenti 
to tap, whilst others recommend seven or eight. No doubt excessive re i 
of sap before the trees attain size and strength would be injurious, but, as oe 
appears to be every probability of a long era of high prices, careful calciae 
show that a good profit can be made on a plantation which is made to. i 
yielding in five years, provided the average yield for the next five years 1 oe 
per tree, even if. the trees should be exhausted by that time. With 300 Ting 
to the acre, yielding 1 Ib. each at 40 cents (gold) per lb. as the local a ; 
value, the return for five crop years would be 600 dollars per acre WW" ” 
necessary investment not above 80 dollars. 
Much higher figures, for both yield and prices, are calculated on by. 
planters, but so far as Mr. Harvey is concerned, if this estimate were cu 
by actual results, the reward for time and money spent would probably e* 
in profit any other known agricultural enterprise. Reh 3 
Now, there are many planters in the North who cultivate the nich oa 
Australian land on the banks of the rivers before mentioned. wae of 
expenditure of a fraction of their time they might sow a few hundred seeds 
the C»stilloa elastica both in the open and in the partially cleared scrub. for 
the trial proved successful, they would have provided a splendid asset ‘ 
themselves and their posterity. If it failed, they would still have done Ae 
service by showing that rubber cultivation in North Queensland could 00 
carried out with any hope of success. 
most 
eed 
é 
COFFEE CULTURE IN QUEENSLAND—No. 3. 
By Mr. HOWARD NEWPORT, 
Instructor in Coffee Culture. 
THE SELECTION OF LAND AND LOCALITY. i 
wi 
Havine got the nursery under way, and the number of plants required gory 
and needing very little attention, the land to be opened must be caret + 
chosen. : of 
If the nursery is planted up in June or July from seed put out 1 Maia 
June, there should be time, between then and the first rains, which will i, 
mence in January or thereabouts, for the selection of land, felling, DU", 
and clearing. During the first rains, or earlier if possible, the land mus the 
pitted, and very soon afterwards planted up—advantage being taken % | 
rains to give the plants a good start on transplantation. Jec- 
The matter that claims attention next, therefore, is that of choice, OF aa 
tion, of the land that is to be opened under coffee. ‘ ect 
The subsequent prosperity of an estate often depends as much on 1t8 le be 
and lay as on the fertility of soil. An error in judgment of soil m8 Jovi 
remedied by cultivation or manure, but an error in climate, aspect, lay, 0° s 
tion can only be deplored. 
Climate. —The climate necessary for coffee cultivation is naturally # ne 
tropical one. Coffee is, however, not so difficult to please in this respe™, 19 
climate may be too cold, but coffee will thrive in a wonderfully hot temper inl 
if there is sufficient humidity. An ideal climate would be one having 2 
even rainfall through nine or ten months in the year, and a temperature ai ip 
dropping below 50 degrees or rising above 90 degrees Fahr. ‘The climal'). 
tropical Queensland is eminently adapted to the cultivation of coffee, 2° pore 
land along the coast and on the slopes of the mountain ranges almost anywr ot 
north of Rockhampton affords climatic advantages not to be found in may 
the countries where coffee is extensively grown. 
iy 
Llevation.—The climate in Queensland at sea level is very similar to i 
of India, Ceylon, Java, or Jamaica, at a level of 2,500 to 3,000 feet above A 
sea. The similarity in vegetation is very marked. From sea level up 7 
to 2,000 feet it is admirably adapted to coffee culture. 
mid 
éin hale | 
