326 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1902. 
A NEW CEREAL. 
In a recent Bulletin issued by the United States Minister for Agricul- 
ture, Mr. Mark A. Carleton, a specialist in cereals, &c., describes a new species 
of grain known as “ Emmer.” Considering the extremely variable climatic 
conditions of some of the Western States, he thinks it desirable that the 
Department of Agriculture should pay particular attention to crops which are 
able to resist extremes of temperature, drought, and moisture, and he describes 
Emmer as a cereal which should do well in the semi-arid districts of the 
Western country. Emmer is a kind of wheat, and, as to its origin asa 
cultivated plant, it dates back to pre-historic times. It belongs to the Hinkorn 
family, is of simpler form than wheat, and originated apparently in the south- 
east of Europe. It was at first discovered in Switzerland, where it is now 
cultivated. It is grown in Servia, Germany, Russia, Spain, and Abysinnia, and 
to some extent also in France and Italy. Russia produces annually a consider- 
able quantity of this grain, and the best seed comes from that country, and 
when sown in the north-west of the United States produces a grain of as good 
a quality as the original. The annual Russian production reaches about 
16,000,009 bushels. Its cultivation in the United States is as yet in its infancy, 
but there are indications that it will produce a crop of the greatest value as 
forage for cattle, as it is said to compare favourably with oats and barley. 
Hitherto Emmer has not been much used for human consumption, but the 
large quantity of protein contained in this cereal would indicate that it possesses 
very valuable nutritive qualities. In Russia large quantities are eaten, and 
special machines are employed for decorticating the grain. The greater part 
.of the food of the peasants who inhabit the districts north of the Volga consists 
of this cereal, and in certain parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where 
wheat is not grown, the Emmer grain is considered an excellent alimentary 
food. 
QUEENSLAND’S AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES AND 
DISABILITIES. 
The natural resources of the State, in so far as they relate to soil products, 
cannot be overstated. In what other country in the world do we find the trees, 
shrubs, plants, cereals, flowers, of every part of the known world growin: 
luxuriantly side by side as they do in this much-fayoured State? Cereals o: 
every known variety yield abundant harvests; with root crops it is the same. 
The sweet potato—the batata of South America—thrives alongside of the 
Trish potato. The West Indian yam grows simultaneously with the cauliflower 
_and cabbage, and we might enumerate a vast number of vegetables which only 
come to maturity under certain conditions in other countries, yet which thrive 
there under the most primitive style of cultivation. 
As far as fruits are concerned, we have the apple, pear, orange, strawberry, 
‘mango—in fact, every fruit which is produced in the world, the only exception 
‘being, perhaps, the mangosteen, and ‘even that grows wild on the Bellenden- 
Ker Range, as Mr. Meston has proved. 
In forestry, there is no need to trayel more than a mile from Brisbane to 
-see the British oak flourishing alongside the Moreton Bay fig, the silky oak of 
the scrubs, the plane-tree, and the Bunya pine, all within the area of one acre. 
Unmeasured tracts of fertile soil, inland as well as on the coast, an equable 
-climate which knows nothing of the vicissitudes, of Europe or America, and 
products which, as we have already said, vary in all degrees between those 
normal to the temperate and tropical regions of the earth, are the prominent 
‘features of our natural wealth. 
In view of this variety of field, orchard, and forest crops noticeable 
throughout the length and breadth of the State, how are these resources 
utilised 2 What reforms are in practice? How are our agriculturists being 
raised to the level of their opportunities ? 
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