1 Fes., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 147 
DOES SUGAR CAUSE TOOTHACHE? 
A correspondent asks the above question. 
The old saying, that one must go far afield to get news of what is happen- 
ing in one’s own country, is exemplified in an article taken from Sezence Sittings 
by the British Journal of Dental Science. The writer of the article states that 
some years ago, when a guest on one of the large sugar plantations at Mackay, 
in North Queensland, he visited the owner's stables. Noting the fat, sleek- 
coated horses, one of the grooms told him that these horses spent sleepless 
nights owing to the agonies of toothache. He further stated that he had 
examined the mouths of three of them, and found their teeth in a dreadful 
state of decay. The groom informed him that, in addition to the ordinary food, 
the horses were given chopped sugar-cane and chaff sweetened with molasses, 
and to this he ascribed the decay. He had no means of ascertaining whether 
the river water could have produced such an effect. 
As an old sugar-planter employing some twenty-five horses and a number 
of kanakas and white people on the plantation, I am inclined to doubt the 
writer’s statement as to the cause of the trouble. That the horses in question 
may have had bad teeth is possible ; but that the caries arose from eating sugar- 
cane and molasses, I do not consider likely. In the first place, sugar-cane is 
too valuable to feed to horses. In less than a fortnight they would eat cane 
enough to produce 2 tons of sugar, in addition to other feed and molasses. My 
horses were regularly fed on the chaffed tops of the cane damped with molasses 
and water. There is very little crystallisable sugar in the tops; in fact, they 
are merely equal to sweet chaff. None of my horses ever suffered from tooth- 
ache, and as for the sleepless nights, no doubt, during the summer, their rest 
was often disturbed, not by toothache, but by the attacks of mosquitoes. Then, 
again, as to the kanakas, they constantly chewed sugar-cane, not the tops, but 
the cane itself—and that to such an extent that it was necessary to forbid the 
ractice. Both white men and white children were everlastingly chewing cane ; 
and the latter, when they got the chance, were fond of dipping their fingers 
into the coolers, and eating the crystallising contents. No kanakas ever came 
to me complaining of toothache. ‘Their teeth were beautifully white and sound. 
On the other hand, I have seen native blacks, whom I used to employ some- 
times to cut firewood, and who rarely touched a cane, suffering very badly 
with toothache. 
Tf horses suffered in that way, surely it would have long ago been made 
known, for all planters fed the tops to the horses; and had it or molasses the 
effect described, the practice would speedily have been dropped. 
At the Queensland Agricultural College, molasses is regularly given to the 
dairy cattle, yet the veterinary surgeon has not drawn attention to any cases 
of toothache arising from this cause. , 
PASSION FRUIT. 
S., Logan Road— 
Question —What is the best method of collecting and preserving 
passion-fruit seeds; when is the best time for planting them ? 
Answer.—In Southern Queensland on the coast, plant in September ; 
in North Queensland, in March. To save the seed, take out the 
ulp of several fruits, press it lightly so as not to injure the seed. 
This will remove a large amount of the moisture. Put the pressed 
pulp and seeds into a tin and let it dry. It will keep for a very 
long time. When you intend to sow the seeds, soak the cake for a 
time in water. 
