308 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 APRII, 1900. 
Old Land.—Instances may occur where the land selected has previous 
been opened and there is no vegetation on it to judge by. In such cases ©” 
aspect, lay, &c., being satisfactory, one must judge by the soil alone Beware 
' however, of land that is covered by couch-grass. However good the land br, 
it be, the work of exterminating the couch-grass will be enormous ; and if left, # a: 
raising of young coffee plants will be almost an impossibility. When the pi abe 
are dug and filled in again, the grass will extract all the goodness of then® 
soil and choke the roots of the young plant. It would be much cheapet at 
i better, in the long run, to start a new field from which couch-grass can be * 
Hy out, 
If the land has grown a secondary scrub it is easier to judge—the effect 
wind and weather is more apparent, and such land is more easily reclaime Lt 
land under grass. Once scrub has been remoyed, however, rain water begins 
wash the surface; and if it has been open some time, with careless cultival!® 
the soil becomes much impoverished by the washing away of surface MoU” 
A soil that has become gravelly on the surface had better be avoided. 
ay I re ae eee te 
Scrub and Forest Land—I have seen patches of forest Jand in sever 
districts eminently suitable for the cultivation of coffee. It must not 
considered that because scrub land is generally the best, or, in other words aa 
land under climatic conditions that suit coffee has generally previously ane 
scrub, forest land is never worth planting. I have seen scrub lan i 
happens to be well protected in every way which nevertheless had a soil 8° i 
and gravelly or stony, and clayey that it would not pay to put it under ¢° " 
Such lands would appear to have grown scrub because of being so fayout®, 
situated that bush fires never touched them, while patches of forest land, a 
which scrub timbers would grow luxuriantly, were prevented by the per? 
1 fires which only the hardiest of trees could withstand. Re) 
{ The grower thinking of opening out will possibly conclude that there f 
great deal to take into consideration before venturing into the cultivatto all 
coffee. It must not be thought that it is impossible to grow coffee without 
these precautions ; indeed it will adapt itself marvellously to very extraordin 
conditions at times; but since the object in view is to get the best return® ke 
and to make the most of the coffee put in, it will be found worth while to ta 
a little extra trouble in the selection of land. Coffee cultivation in Queens i 
. (since only a fewacres are required to be opened compared with most countries 
and most holdings are at least of 160 acres in extent) admits of the choc ig 
locality, lay, aspect, elevation, and frequently even rainfall, which should Oram 
so much has to be done personally, and labour is at a premium) be taken ots 
advantage of. 
¢ with 
disap 
unfavourable aspect, lay, or a poor soil. In such cases, soil may be impr oly 
. i 
* ane Hi 
belt of trees, or a frosty hollow protected for a month or so in the yen oe 
cle 
ora 
firsts 
d 
the man with the fixed and only idea, for instance, of obtaining the mornings + of 
for his place, correct though it may be, may find his choice not as perfec ary 
' satisfactory as he had hoped, if he ignores the other equally neces 
considerations. en 
It can be readily understood that it is a very difficult matter 10 aro 
reliable advice as to the best situation for coffee without a real study 9 
